Ábel Ravasz

His father, Marián Ravasz, is an architect. His mother, Ilona Németh, is a visual artist and university professor. He belongs to the Hungarian community in Slovakia.^[2]

He studied sociology at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest (2006 – 2011), political science and economy at the Corvinus University of Budapest (2004 – 2012). In 2012, he became the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship for Graduate Studies in the USA, and in 2014, he attained a master's degree in sociology at the Columbia University in New York City.^[2]

In 2013, he became the co-founder of the NGO Purt, an interethnic network of Roma, Hungarian and Slovak activists supporting marginalized communities in the Gemer region.^[3]

In 2014, he founded the Mathias Bel Institute, an NGO specializing in the research of minority communities and activism in the area of minority rights.^[4]

In 2016, he was named the Slovak government's plenipotentiary for Roma communities, a position he held until 2020.^[5][6] As such, he was the initiator of several legislative changes, including compulsory preschool education for all 5-year-olds, the founding of the country's new Fund for the Support of Minority Cultures, and others.^[7]

Between 2016 and 2020, he was vice-chairman of the interethnic Most–Híd party. In 2023 he ran for office on the Sloboda a Solidarita party ticket.^[8]

In 2025, he became the recipient of Columbia University's GSAS Outstanding Recent Alumni Award.^[9]