Helena Woleková
Laureate of the 2018 edition
She was born on 17 January 1946 in Podkriváň in the Detva District. She has three sons and four grandchildren. As a child she wanted to be a civil engineer, but in the end she was drawn to sociology. After completing her studies she joined the Czechoslovak Research Institute of Labour, which later became a breeding ground for revolutionaries – Fedor Gál, Zorka and Martin Bútora and others worked there. All of them were gradually “let go”. Since under socialism social work was carried out mainly within enterprises, she became head of the psychology and sociology department at the Heavy Engineering Works. During November 1989 she was active in Public Against Violence.
Laureate profile
She was born on 17 January 1946 in Podkriváň in the Detva District. She has three sons and four grandchildren. As a child she wanted to be a civil engineer, but in the end she was drawn to sociology. After completing her studies she joined the Czechoslovak Research Institute of Labour, which later became a breeding ground for revolutionaries – Fedor Gál, Zorka and Martin Bútora and others worked there. All of them were gradually “let go”. Since under socialism social work was carried out mainly within enterprises, she became head of the psychology and sociology department at the Heavy Engineering Works. During November 1989 she was active in Public Against Violence.
After the first free elections in 1990 she became deputy to Minister Petr Miller at the federal Ministry of Labour. She was the first woman in a Slovak government after the fall of communism, serving as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of the Slovak Republic from 23 April 1991 to 24 June 1992. Around the turn of the millennium she was a member and later spokesperson of the Third Sector Forum (Grémium tretieho sektora), and she was for many years a member of the Government Council of the Slovak Republic for Non-Governmental Organisations.
She co-founded the non-profit organisation S.P.A.C.E. – Centre for Social Policy Analysis, is a member of the non-profit civic association Association of Senior Experts in Slovakia, and was also involved in founding the SOCIA Foundation, which through its own activities and financial support promotes changes to the social system for the benefit of vulnerable groups of the population. The foundation's vision is a tolerant civil society of which people who need the help and support of others are an integral part. The result of cooperation between “the weak and the strong” will be sufficient high-quality social services that respond flexibly to the changing individual needs of users in their natural social environment.
She holds the Pribina Cross, 2nd Class, the Order of Ľudovít Štúr, 2nd Class, and the decoration of Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau, fifth class, conferred by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (in recognition of many years of cooperation with Dutch private foundations in the social field).
The President of the Trnava Self-Governing Region confers the Anton Srholec Freedom Award on Ms Helena Woleková for exceptional merit in the development of democracy and civil society and the protection of human rights. Through her lifelong efforts to reduce social inequalities and to help the weakest and most vulnerable members of society, she has made an immense contribution to the ideals of a free and just society.