Nina Mitz, businesswoman

Nina Mitz was born in Vels, Austria, in a United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) camp for displaced persons. Her parents, who were Jews from Ostrowiec (Kielce), fled the German invasion in 1939 and then the Soviet Union. They came to France in 1947.

Nina Mitz was placed under the protection of the International Refugee Organisation along with her entire family on 7 March 1951. She had to work to finance her studies at the Faculty of Law and later at the European Institute of Business Administration and the Institute of Internal Security Higher Studies. She later became a professional in strategic communication. From 1997 to 2002, she worked for French Prime Minister Jospin’s government, in the newly created position of Communication Advisor and International Spokesperson for several departments of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry. At the request of the government, Nina Mitz also took part in various state missions, particularly in the United States, in connection with the appropriation dossier.

Since 2003, she had been running Financial Dynamics, now FTI Consulting, in France, one of the largest international strategic financial and media communications consultancies. Additionally, she has authored articles on the financial crisis, international communication, relations with financial markets and executive communication. She was the Chairwoman of the Reception Centre for Foreign Press (CAPE) which she created in 1999. She was also Special Advisor to the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations and a member of the Scientific Council of the Terra Nova Foundation and of the Policy Network.

Nina Mitz died on 18 August 2014. She was distinguished as Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour).