英語(yǔ)名人堂：索尼婭·甘地

索尼婭·甘地(英文：Sonia Gandhi，1946年12月9日-)，印度女政治家。印度國(guó)大黨主席、團(tuán)結(jié)進(jìn)步聯(lián)盟主席。印度前總理拉吉夫·甘地之妻。

1946年出生在意大利的都靈市郊一個(gè)羅馬天主教家庭，父親是建筑承包商。1964年，年僅18歲的索尼婭離開(kāi)家鄉(xiāng)前往英國(guó)劍橋大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)。1965年，她與當(dāng)時(shí)在同校學(xué)習(xí)機(jī)械工程的印度著名政治家尼赫魯?shù)耐鈱O拉吉夫·甘地相遇并相愛(ài)，倆人1968年在新德里舉行婚禮。婚后，索尼婭一直在家里相夫教子，被人們認(rèn)為是一位賢妻良母。她和拉·甘地育有一子一女。[1] 中國(guó)國(guó)務(wù)院總理李克強(qiáng)2013年5月20日在新德里會(huì)見(jiàn)印度國(guó)大黨主席索尼婭·甘地。

Sonia Gandhi was born in 1946 to Italian parents in a small village in northern Italy. She was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended a Catholic school. Her life changed in 1964 when she went to study English in England. It was there that she met and fell in love with Rajiv Gandhi, the future Prime Minister of India.

The couple were married in 1969. Sonia quickly got a taste of Indian politics when she moved in with her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi, India’s Prime Minister. They decided to stay out of politics. Rajiv was an airline pilot and Sonia stayed at home to look after her family. This changed dramatically in 1984 when Indira was assassinated and Rajiv became Prime Minister.

Following her husband's assassination in 1991, she was under a lot of pressure to become leader of the ruling Congress Party. She refused many times over the next seven years. She hated politics and said she would rather her children be beggars than politicians. She finally joined the Congress Party and became its president within a record 62 days of joining.

She has been Congress President for ten consecutive years – another record. In 2004 she was asked to lead a 15-party coalition and be India’s Prime Minister. She refused and caused a political storm. She is still a member of parliament for Uttar Pradesh. She now speaks at international conferences and makes the yearly lists of the world’s most powerful or influential women.