Elizabeth Kucinich

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Elizabeth Kucinich

Born October 22, 1977 (1977-10-22) (age 30)
North Ockendon, Havering, London, United Kingdom
Spouse Dennis Kucinich (2005 - present)

Elizabeth Jane Kucinich (née Harper; born October 22, 1977 in North Ockendon, Havering, London, United Kingdom) is the wife of American politician and former Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich. They married on August 21, 2005.

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[edit] Background

Elizabeth originates from North Ockendon in the London Borough of Havering. In 1996 she went to Agra, India, to volunteer at one of Mother Teresa's homes for India's poorest children.[1] Upon earning her bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Kent at Canterbury, she spent 16 months in a rural Tanzanian village and worked as an advocate for regional development.[1]

After leaving Tanzania, she volunteered with a British Red Cross refugee unit; earned a certificate in Peace Studies from Coventry University; and got a job as a fund-raiser for a seafarer's charity in London.[1] Her volunteer work often brought her to the House of Lords.[1] At that time she heard financial analyst Stephen Zarlenga speak about monetary reform. She was impressed and soon was hired to become Zarlenga's assistant at the Chicago-based American Monetary Institute.[1] That work took her and Zarlenga to Dennis Kucinich's office.[1]

She married Dennis Kucinich in 2005, in Congressman Kucinich's hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. She has her tongue pierced with a silver stud.[2] When asked during her husband's 2008 presidential campaign if it would be removed if she became First Lady of the United States, she replied that she considered it too much a part of her to do so.[3] The Sunday Times noted that one of her heroines is Diana, Princess of Wales, partly for her bringing "compassion back into public life".[4]

[edit] Education

For high school, she attended Coopers' Company and Coborn School located in Upminster, Essex, from 1989 to 1996.

She attended the University of Kent at Canterbury in the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2001 and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies and Theology and a Master's degree in International Conflict Analysis. Her thesis for her Master's was on "Conflict Resolution in World Politics".

[edit] External links

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[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Theiss, Evelyn. "How Kucinich Found Love", Cleveland Plain Dealer, 2005-10-30. Retrieved on 2007-05-21. 
  2. ^ The Essex girl with a silver tongue stud who has her eyes on the White House
  3. ^ Essex girl on the road to the White House
  4. ^ Essex girl fills White House race with lurve