Biography

• Born on 5th July 1932 in Budapest.
• Studied Economics in Rostow am Don, afterwards from 1954 he worked initially in the Hungarian Ministry of Finance, then from 1959 in the Foreign Ministry. In 1971 he changed to the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers‘ Party in the Dept. for Foreign Affairs, becoming its leader in 1983.
• In 1985 he entered the Central Committee as a full member and took on the office of Secretary of State in the Foreign Ministry. From 1989 to 1990 in the phase of democratic awakening he held the office of Foreign Minister; he played an historic role as, in September 1989, the border to Austria was opened and thousands of East German citizens in the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Budapest were able to emigrate.
• In 1990 he became Chairman of the Socialist Party and Member of Parliament, where he was elected as Chairman of the Foreign Policy Commission. From 1994 to 1998 he was Hungarian Prime Minister; with his politics and his reforms he contributed to Hungary becoming one of the first Central and Eastern European countries to gain membership of the EU.
• Died on 19th June 2013.