Former President Celebrates 85th Birthday

Göncz was born in Budapest on February 10, 1922. He graduated with a law degree from Pázmány Péter University in 1944, after which he was drafted to fight with the Germans. Instead, he joined the resistance. After the war, Göncz joined the Independent Smallholders, Farmers and Citizens Party, first leading the party's youth organisation, then editing the party's newspaper. Later, he became the personal assistant to the party's secretary Béla Kovács. When the party disbanded in 1948, Göncz was out of a job. He enrolled at the Gödöllő Agriculture University in 1952, but left before he was awarded his diploma.

 

Göncz participated in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution as a member of the Peasants Alliance. After the revolution was crushed, he was tried and sentenced to life in prison. In prison, he started learning English.

 

Göncz was freed in an amnesty in 1963, and, thanks to his language skills, became a technical translator for a research institute. From 1965, he started translating literary works and writing his own works as well. Among the authors Göncz has translated are E.L. Doctorow, William Faulkner, William Golding, Ernest Hemingway, Susan Sontag, John Updike and J.R. Tolkien.

 

In the late 80s, Göncz became involved in politics once again, becoming one of the founding members of the Alliance of Free Democrats. After the country's first free elections in 1990, Göncz was elected House Speaker and automatically took on the role of President of the Republic for a five-year term. In 1995, Göncz's mandate as President was extended for a further five years.