About Ján Figeľ
Ján Figeľ (born 20 January 1960) is a Slovak politician who served as European Commissioner from 2004 to 2009, then as Slovak Minister of Transport from 2010 to 2012. From 2016 to 2019, Figeľ was European Commission special envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion outside the EU. == Political career == Following his election as the leader of the Christian Democratic Movement in Slovakia, Figeľ announced his resignation from the Commission on 21 September 2009. He was replaced by Maroš Šefčovič on 1 October 2009. In 2007, Figeľ received a PhD in the field of social work at St. Elizabeth's School of Medicine and Social Work in Bratislava, a university-level private academic institution. The majority of the thesis was copied from a publication he edited in 2003 with Slovak diplomat Miroslav Adamiš, "Slovakia on the Road to the European Union – Chapters and Contexts", in which they described the country's EU accession process. The rector of St Elizabeth's School, Vladimír Krčméry, said that they took into consideration Figeľ's position and had granted Figeľ a PhD mainly due to the fact that he was at the time serving as a European Commissioner. On 24 August 2012, Science Insider reported that Figeľ was facing an official inquiry into the legitimacy of his PhD. awarded while he was in office. === Slovak Minister of Transport === From 2010 to 2012, Figeľ was a Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport, Construction and Regional Development. Figeľ was chairman of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) from 19 September 2009 until 15 March 2016, when he resigned as party leader following unsuccessful general elections when KDH took just 4.96 percent of the vote and, as a result, the Christian Democrats did not win any seats in the parliament for the first time since they were established in 1990 and paid the price for not passing the baton to a new generation.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.