Personal and Family Life
Lantos spoke English fluently, but retained his native Hungarian accent. During the German occupation of Hungary he met Annette Tilleman (or Tillemann), whose family escaped to Switzerland. They used Swedish passports issued by Raoul Wallenberg. After Hungary was liberated, she and her family returned to Budapest where she and Lantos met again. They married in 1950 after emigrating to the U.S. and remained married until his death from cancer in 2008. Annette Lantos is a niece of Jolie Gabor, whose brother Sebastian was Mrs. Lantos' father, making actresses Zsa Zsa, Magda and Eva Gabor, Jolie's daughters, all originally from Budapest, Annette Lantos's cousins.
Lantos and his wife Annette had two daughters, Annette and Katrina, and 17 grandchildren. His daughter Annette was married to Timber Dick, "an independent businessman in Colorado", until his accidental death in 2008.
Their daughter Katrina, is married to ambassador and former U.S. Representative from New Hampshire, Richard Swett, and was herself a candidate for Congress in New Hampshire. One of Lantos' grandchildren, Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick, is a noted opera singer and activist for organ donation. Lantos considered himself a secular Jew. His wife and two daughters converted to Mormonism.
Read more about this topic: Tom Lantos
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