László Sólyom
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- The native form of this personal name is Sólyom László. This article uses the Western name order.
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László Sólyom
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 5 August 2005 |
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| Prime Minister | Ferenc Gyurcsány Gordon Bajnai |
| Preceded by | Ferenc Mádl |
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| Born | 3 January 1942 Pécs, Hungary |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse | Erzsébet Sólyom |
László Sólyom (pronounced [ˈlaːsloː ˈʃoːjom]; 
listen (help·info)) (born on January 3, 1942) is the President of Hungary, having overcome the governing Hungarian Socialist Party nominee Katalin Szili in the election on June 7, 2005. He was sworn in on the same day and he took office on August 5, 2005.
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[edit] Biography
He was born in the southern Hungarian city of Pécs. He graduated as a lawyer at the University of Pécs in 1965. He worked as a professor at universities and law institutes in Budapest: at the Eötvös Loránd University from 1983, at Péter Pázmány Catholic University from 1996, and at Andrássy Gyula German Language University of Budapest from 2002. He also worked in Jena, Germany for 3 years.
His political career began as legal advisor for civil and environmental organisations in the late 1980s. As a founder of Danube Circle, he also had a significant role in environmental protection issues like preventing the construction of the Nagymaros dam which,according to the Danube Circle, would have damaged the habitat of a northern part of the Danube. He was one of the founders of the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) in 1987, and represented that party in the Opposition Roundtable negotiations that played a very important part in Hungary's transition to parliamentary democracy. In 1989, for a short time he was member of the executive committee of the MDF.
However, he left party politics in late 1989, as he was elected into the Constitutional Court of Hungary. He gained the presidency of the court half year later, and held that position until 1998. During this time, the Constitutional Court had a very important role in laying the groundwork for and strengthening democracy in Hungary. In this role, he significantly contributed to the removal of capital punishment, the protection of information rights, the freedom of opinion and of conscience, as well as the constitutional protection of domestic partnerships of homosexuals, which measures brought wide international acclaim for the Constitutional Court of Hungary.
He had a controversial principle of activism based on the invisible constitution, motivating the decisions of the Court by the 'spirit' or 'morals' of the Constitution rather than its explicitly written form, advocating the principle of equal human dignity even over the letters of the constitution.
After the end of his 9-year-long mandate, he continued his scholarly career, continued giving lectures in universities, and became founder of Védegylet, an environmentalist and civil rights non-governmental organisation in 2000.
He is married, has two children and nine grandchildren.
[edit] Presidential election
He was nominated by the environmentalist civil organisation Védegylet, including notable public figures from both the left and the right wing. As the Constitution of Hungary specifies, the President is elected by the Parliament of Hungary, so he had to acquire the support of Parliamentary parties. The opposition parties, Fidesz and MDF, also endorsed him to become President of Hungary. However, if the governing parties had been united in support of Szili, Sólyom would not have secured enough votes to take the Presidency; but because Szili was not acceptable to the SZDSZ, the smaller party in the governing coalition, they abstained from voting, and Sólyom's election was secured.
[edit] Controversies
As president-elect he promised not to visit the U.S, as long as he is fingerprinted at the border[1]
He refused to shake hands with János Fekete, former vice president of the Hungarian National Bank, while awarding him the National Order of Merit of Hungary[2].
In 2007, he refused to award Gyula Horn a similar order. He referred to the fact that Horn had not changed his opinion on the 1956 revolution of Hungary[3].
[edit] References
- ^ "Nem akarok szeretett elnökünk lenni", Magyar Hirlap, August 5, 2005
- ^ Nem fogott kezet Sólyom és Fekete János, www.origo.hu
- ^ Sólyom László megtagadta Horn kitüntetését
[edit] External links
- (English) The Office of the President of the Republic of Hungary
- (English) His biography at the above site
- (Hungarian) Biography on his campaign site
- (English), (Hungarian) Website of the civil organisation Védegylet, which nominated him
- (Hungarian) The campaign site made by Védegylet
- (Hungarian) His profile by Index
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Ferenc Mádl |
President of Hungary 2005 – Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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| Preceded by office created |
President of the Constitutional Court of Hungary 1990 – 1998 |
Succeeded by János Németh |
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