Emília Kováčová

Emília Kováčová (8 February 1931 – 31 December 2020) was a Slovak economist and professor of employment and social development at the University of Economics in Bratislava. She served as the country's first First Lady of Slovakia from 1993 until 1998.[1][2]

Kováčová's husband, Michal Kováč, became the first President of Slovakia upon the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993. Emília Kováčová, likewise, became the first First Lady in Slovakia's history.[1] Kováčová created and established the protocols for the new office of the First Lady.[1] She also oversaw the restoration of Grassalkovich Palace, the country's presidential palace, during the 1990s while continuing to live at the Kováčs private home.[1] She continued to teach economics during her tenure.[1] In a 1998 interview with the Washington Post, Kováčová noted that she admired then-U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton.[1]

Kováčová continued to teach at the University of Economics in Bratislava after leaving office in 1998.[1] She also focused on her foundation, established during her tenure as first lady, which worked to help the elderly and improve educational opportunities in Slovakia.[1]