Reminder:
Everything has a price, but
it doesn’t matter whether
I pay for it or
I get paid!
Dr. Miklós Duray
- loader,
- geologist, geochemist, mountaineer,
- doctor of natural sciences,
- civil rights activist, prison inmate,
- visiting professor in the USA,
- party founder, member of parliament,
- politician, public writer,
- national policy expert and strategist,
- university lecturer on national knowledge,
- honorary university associate professor.
- Lives in Bratislava.
Born in Lučenec, July 18, 1945.
Family background:
Married since 1973, his wife: Dr. Zsuzsanna Szabó, born in 1945, in Levice, mathematician, computer scientist. He taught mathematics as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava, then as an assistant professor of computer science at the Department of Theoretical Cybernetics of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics. He died in 2018.
His son: Bálint Áron, born in 1989, Indiana Pa. USA.
His mother: Mária Zvoda (1910-2008), born in Lučenec, elementary school teacher, taught at the Catholic school in Lučenec until 1945, from then unemployed until 1953, then worked as a clerk until her retirement.
His father: Endre (1908-1980), born in Veľká nad Ipľom, lived in Lučenec, doctor of law – he began his legal studies at Charles University in Prague, and completed his doctorate in law at Elisabeth University of Science in Pécs. He began his professional career as a public administration and economic lawyer, continuing as a financial and tax expert. He was unemployed from 1945, then obtained a master’s degree in blacksmithing, briefly worked in his former profession again, then became an upholsterer, later a leather warehouseman. Finally, until his retirement, he was the deputy head of a small-scale cooperative producing footwear.
His sister: Éva, born in 1939 in Lučenec, graduated from Comenius University in Bratislava as a secondary school teacher with a Slovak-Hungarian major. She taught at the Hungarian secondary grammar school in Fiľakovo.
His father-in-law: Antal Szabó, reformed pastor (1915-2004), associate professor at the János Hus Faculty of Theology in Prague, deputy bishop of the Reformed Church of Slovakia. Pastor of the Reformed congregations of Keť, Novy Tekov, Levice, and Orechová Potôň.
Origin of the family:
On the paternal side, it comes from three different roots. The Duray branch is of French Huguenot origin. The female branch is partly of Welser German upper-class descent (Welser Philiphine was the wife of Archduke Ferdinand II of Habsburg), and Wertheimer German-Jewish origin (Wertheimer Samuel was the rabbi of Hungary).
Two roots can be traced on the maternal side. One is German. They settled in Nógrád County at the end of the 18th century as glassblowers. The other branch is Slovak. The maternal grandfather moved from Túróc County to Nógrád as a locksmith, who won numerous awards at the industrial sample fairs in Budapest.
His life path:
1951-1959
Student of the Hungarian-language elementary school (officially called: eight-year elementary school) in Lučenec.
1959-1962
Graduates at the Hungarian grammar school in Fiľakovo (officially called: eleven-year high school). (President of the school’s youth organization, member of the drama club, leader of the school’s literary club.)
1962-1963
After graduation, he decided to continue his studies. He applied for archaeology, secondly for ethnography – unsuccessfully. Due to his origin, he was not accepted as an apprentice in the car repair industry either. He worked as a loader in the warehouse of the Technomat iron wholesale state company in Lučenec.
In the summer of 1963
as he turned 18, he was accepted as a member of the Csemadok.
1963-1971
University studies at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava, majoring in geology.
From 1964
actively engaged in public and political activities in the Hungarian youth organizations in Czechoslovakia, which were independent from official power.
1965
On a winter mountain hike in the High Tatras he contracted viral hepatitis, which cut short his active hiking, caving, mountaineering and rock climbing career. He had to interrupt his university studies for a year.
In the summer of 1967
he worked as a laborer on an agricultural farm in the village of Pinc near Lučenec, where he suffered a permanent knee injury in a workplace accident.
1968-1969
interrupted his university studies for a year due to his public activities (Prague Spring).
January-April 1969
Secretary of the Csemadok in Bratislava.
May-September 1969
Secretary of the Central Council of the Hungarian Youth (from December 1968, head of the MISZ – the national executive body of the Hungarian Youth Association)
1969-1971
Completes his university studies. Obtains a general geology degree from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava.
1972-1973
Assistant researcher at the Research Institute of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition in Bratislava. Examines trace elements in subsoils using the polarography method. His temporary research status is terminated. His employment contract is not extended due to external pressure that cannot be identified at that time.
1973-1977
Deals with geo-ecological investigations and geochemical investigations of weathering products of deep /crystalline/ rocks within the framework of a scholarship offered by the Geological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Due to his public activities in 1968-1969, he was not allowed to pursue a scientific research career (he was not allowed to obtain the so-called Candidate of Sciences degree – C.Sc.).
1977
takes a doctoral examination in geochemistry (on the subject of examining the relationships between the geochemical processes and the clay mineral composition of the subsoil of residual soils) at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the Comenius University in Bratislava. He is awarded the title of Doctor of Natural Sciences (RNDr. – Rerum Naturárum Doctor).
1978-1990
geologist of the Technical Planning Directorate of the Doprastav Bridge and Road Construction State Company. He developed several professional theses that were successfully defended in professional opposition, e.g.
– geological characteristics of the axis of the Dolný Kubín bypass road,
– geotechnical problems of the expressway bypassing Čadca,
– design of the material delivery pits necessary for the construction of the embankments of the Martin bypass road,
– analysis of the geotechnical problems of the anchor pillar retaining wall and the slope cut into the south side of the Őr-hegy on the Zvolen section of the expressway between Zvolen and B (on the south side of the Őr-hegy in Zvolen) using geochemical and mineralogical methods,
– geostatic problems of the viaduct and the approach embankment being built on the Veľké Zálužie section (between Báb and Kynek) of the Trnva-Nitra expressway.
1988-1989
visiting professor on a scholarship at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (USA). He deals with public policy (political science), and several of his studies are published at the university.
From 1990
a professional politician: party founder, member of parliament. His area of interest is Hungarian national politics and national strategy.
1990-1992
Member of parliament in the federal parliament of Czechoslovakia, the Federal Assembly. Member of the Environmental Protection Committee. His parliamentary mandate ends with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
1994-2010
Member of parliament in the National Council of the Slovak Republic. Member of the Committee on Local Government and Public Administration, then the Committee on Human Rights and Minorities.
2010
ends his active political career. From September, he starts teaching at the Elek Benedek Faculty of the University of West Hungary in Sopron. The main topics of his lectures are national politics and national strategy, as well as the development (disintegration) process of the Hungarian nation, which is divided by state borders.
2011
Titular associate professor of the University of West Hungary. From then on, his subject is listed under the title “national studies”. He is also invited to lecture at the Apáczai Csere János Faculty of Pedagogy of the University of West Hungary, in Győr.
2012
From the autumn semester, a course in national studies will also be launched at the National University of Public Service, Budapest.
His public career
1954
In his third year of elementary school, with the intervention of the teachers, he is accepted into the Czechoslovak Pioneer Organization.
1958
He becomes a member of the Czechoslovak Youth Union, which is controlled by the Communist Party.
1960
President of the school organization of the Czechoslovak Youth Union.
1963-1970
Member of the Cultural Association of Hungarian Workers in Czechoslovakia (Csemadok), controlled by the Communist Party
1965-1968
President of the Attila József Youth Club for Hungarian college and university students in Bratislava. One of the organizers for aid to the areas affected by the Danube flood in 1965.
In 1967, he participates at the conference of college and university students in Czechoslovakia held in Prague, where he does not get to speak, but he formally protests in writing that Hungarian youth are deliberately excluded from the transformation of the communist youth association. As a result, he receives a political reprimand from the communist party’s Slovak center.
1965-1969
One of the organizers of the alternative forum for Hungarian youth in Czechoslovakia, the Summer Youth Meetings, independent of the official power.
1966-1969
Member of the Central Committee of Csemadok. In 1968, within the committee he founded the group of non-communists (independents) with Dr. István Mede.
1967-1968
Founder and leader of the Methodological Group coordinating the clubs (associations) of Hungarian youth in Czechoslovakia operating independently of the political system.
1968-1969
Member of the presidency of the Central Committee of Csemadok.
1968
One of the initiators of the Hungarian youth conference created as a result of the Prague Spring, where they decided to establish the Hungarian Youth Association.
In 1968-1969, he founded the Hungarian Youth Association in Czechoslovakia (MISZ) with his colleagues, serving as its secretary general and then president from December 1968. The organization ceased to exist in November 1969 because the newly established Slovak Ministry of Interior did not permit its operation.
1969
In December 1969, he resigns from his positions held in Csemadok. Within a year, he is expelled from the organization for political reasons. He is not allowed to publish or participate in public life.
1971
Despite being outside the party, he was placed on the so-called “black list” established by the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia on January 8, 1971. Officially named: “A centralized registry of right-wing opportunists, representatives of anti-party, anti-socialism, and anti-Soviet campaigns and actions. It was listed as the fourth youngest member of this registry. A total of more than 10 thousand individuals were included in this registry, then after the review, their number was reduced to 6335. The registry contained 1500 names from Slovakia.”
1974-1979
Due to his scientific and geological expertise, he is preparing to write a monograph on the mineral and thermal waters of Highland. The notes for this work are confiscated by the political police during a house search. From 1976, he re-engages in public life. He gives lectures to Hungarian and Slovak students. He stands in opposition to those Hungarian intellectuals in Slovakia who sign the declaration organized by the central state power against Charta ’77.
1978-1989
He establishes the Hungarian Minority Advocacy Committee in Czechoslovakia, of which he is the spokesperson until December 1989, when the committee’s activities are suspended. The purpose of the committee (CSMKJB) is to fight against the planned and organized liquidation of Hungarian schools and against state measures that are anti-Hungarian and to defend human rights.
1979
He participates with his study in the creation of the Bibó-memorial book edited in Budapest, which is the most comprehensive, power-independent endeavor of Hungarian intellectual life in the Carpathian Basin after 1956. He establishes a close relationship with the Charta ’77 civil rights movement. The state police continuously monitor him and harass him in other ways. On July 23, two days after the “Dog’s Grip” manuscript was found by the Romanian border police in a Japanese citizen’s car at the Romanian-Hungarian border, the Czechoslovak state police takes him from his workplace. This is followed by a series of interrogations lasting for weeks. About a dozen Hungarian intellectuals from the Highlands are being interrogated. The state police prevent him from traveling abroad with his valid passport. They conduct house searches at his place several times, which regularly repeats until 1984.
1982
On June 3, he is taken away again by the state police. His interrogation lasts for several months. His passport is revoked, a criminal procedure is initiated against him on the charge of subverting the state order, and then he is arrested.
1982-1983
He has been in investigative custody since November 10, 1982. On January 31 and February 1, 1983, a court trial is underway against him at the Bratislava City Court. A part of the Hungarian Writers’ Union expresses solidarity with him, which leads to the political polarization of the organization. The court hearing is attended by Tibor Cseres, István Csurka, and Miklós Mészöly, as well as by Eva Maria Barki, a lawyer from Vienna. The Charta 77 civil rights movement protests against his detention. The lawsuit is suspended under foreign pressure, and then he is released on February 22, 1983.
1983
He signs the Charta ’77 civil rights declaration and continues his activities as the spokesperson for the legal defence committee.
1984-1985
He is arrested again on May 10, 1984, on charges of subverting the state order and activities against the socialist system, the Soviet Union, and its allies. His detention prompts significant international protests, such as from Amnesty International and the American branch of the PEN Club. Among others, Norman Mailer, Arthur Miller, and Kurt Vonnegut protest against his detention. The Duray Committee is established in Budapest. On May 8, 1985, about 3,000 American Hungarians demonstrate in Ottawa for the cessation of the proceedings against him and against his detention. On May 10, the criminal proceeding against him will be reclassified, and according to the amnesty decree at that time, it will be terminated and he will be released. He was held in custody for a total of 470 days without a verdict.
1985-1988
He continues his activities in the legal protection committee, increasingly publishing in the unofficial opposition press. During the Budapest Cultural Forum (in October 1985), he is subjected to further harassment from the state police. He maintains regular contact with the Slovak opposition, with whom he has common initiatives. He participates in the work of the spokespersons’ body of Charta ’77. The state police expel him from Prague.
1988
He is member of the Free Initiatives Network established by the democratic opposition in Hungary, until its transformation into a political party (SZDSZ) in November –following of Mihály Károlyi’s legacy is unacceptable for him. He holds a lecture in April at an opposition political event organized by the Hungarian Democratic Forum at the Budapest Yurt Theatre. Here he still successfully mitigates the tensions between liberal and national conservative forces.
1987-1989
He regains his passport as a result of the public intervention by the U.S. delegation participating in the OSCE Vienna follow-up meeting, and he and his wife receive an exit permit to travel to “West.” They travel to the USA for one year, on August 15, 1988, at the invitation of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which is for the civil rights activist and geologist. His stay is sponsored by Ede Chászár, a professor of political science at the university, with financial support from the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation and George Soros. He deals with political science at the American university, writes, and publishes. He gives about a hundred lectures on the North American continent (USA, Canada).
1989
The American Czechoslovak Embassy is showing intense interest in him. Under mysterious circumstances, one week before his planned departure date on August 9, his passport is stolen on August 2. The Czechoslovak Embassy in Washington is reluctant to issue him the temporary document required for his return. The document that can only be obtained with the intervention of the American lawyers’ human rights organization in early October. On November 28, he returns to Europe, to Budapest, with his wife and son.
1989
In early December, the first prime-minister candidate of the post-regime change Czechoslovak Federal Government. At the government formation negotiations on December 8, a group led by Marian Čalfa, representing the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and later the federal prime minister, vetoed only his nomination so he will not be member of the government.
1990
in order to establish an independent Hungarian party in what was then Czechoslovakia, he was active in December and at the beginning of the new year. He seeks to convince the “Independent Hungarian Initiative,” which operated under the integration of the people’s front according to communist traditions. Following the rejection, on February 7, he establishes the political organization of the ethnic groups in Czechoslovakia (following the example of Count János Esterházy), the Togetherness political movement, whose president remains until the founding of the Hungarian Coalition Party in 1998.
1990-1992
On January 31, he is sworn in as a representative in the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia (co-opted). In the first democratic parliamentary elections in May 1990, he enjoys the second largest support among politicians in Slovakia and is re-elected in 1992.
1991
He is the only who criticizes Czechoslovakia for wanting to become a member of the Council of Europe unprepared. This effort is not opposed, but the country’s membership would be conditional. He expresses his opinion openly to the delegation of the EC during their visit to Prague in early January 1991. As a result, he faces attacks, mainly from the Independent Hungarian Initiative. One of the initiators of the law on the examination of the communist past in the Prague federal parliament (among the initiators is not his name that appears, but that of his fellow representative, István Batta).
1992
The idea of the unification of the three Hungarian parties in Slovakia is first raised at the November meeting of the National Council for Coexistence in Český Těšín. The author of the Hungarian parliamentary proposal in the Federal Assembly in Prague, the acceptance of which would have allowed the transformation of Czechoslovakia into a multi-faceted state consisting of a three (Czech, Moravian, Slovak) federal republic and minority autonomies. At the last session of the Chamber of Nations of the Federal Assembly, a speech is given in Hungarian and Slovak about the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the essence of which is: that neither at the establishment nor at the dissolution of the state was the opinion of those affected asked.
1993
The “let our homeland be our native land” program of Hungarian self-government in Slovakia, as well as one of the formulators of the inter-ethnic relationship system between Hungarians in Slovakia and Slovaks. It states: The Hungarian community in Slovakia is part of the Hungarian nation living in Slovakia – it is not a minority.
1993-1994
The initiator of the national assembly of Hungarian elected officials in Slovakia (local government and parliamentary representatives, mayors) (so-called Komárno Assembly, January 8, 1994), which demands the legalization of local and regional governments as well as the rights of the Hungarian community in accordance with the spirit of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The Slovak Information Service is preparing a plan to dismantle the unity of perspective established at the national assembly and to personally reshape Hungarian politics in Slovakia, primarily by side-lining the initiators of the assembly who are members of the Political Movement of Coexistence. Following this, the activities aimed at discrediting him intensify, activities that had begun in early spring 1990, involving numerous Hungarian public figures.
1994
During the campaign preceding the Hungarian parliamentary elections, he severely criticizes the MSZP (Hungarian Socialist Party) because it conducted a campaign against the Antall-Boros government and the governing parties at the expense of Hungarians living in the neighbouring states. At that time, in the Sunday evening editorial program of Hungarian Television, he makes the statement “God protect Hungary from a government created by the party whose candidate is János Hajdú”. Between the two election rounds, Péter Tölgyessy shares his assumption with him that the MSZP-SZDSZ government will do everything to side-line him. A year later, a Hungarian diplomat on a mission in Bratislava tells him to disappear from politics while it’s still possible.
1994-2010
Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic (re-elected in 1998, 2002 and 2006).
1994-1996
Chairman of the parliamentary fraction of the Hungarian Coalition
1995
As the president of Coexistence, he facilitates the formation of an alliance between right-wing parliamentary parties in Hungary (MDF, FIDESZ-MPP, and KDNP) by first creating an opportunity for them to appear together abroad and engage in political negotiations in Slovakia.
He participates and gives a lecture at the II. Hungarian Paradigm Conference in Székesfehérvár. He believes that the separated parts of the Hungarian nation are found in a pre-paradigmal state because they are searching for their comprehensive national political program. However, the Hungarian part of the nation is in a post-paradigmal state reminiscent of Brownian motion because denial has become predominant. In his opinion, the development of the paradigmatic state is inconceivable without the participation of the political class and the government of the nation.
1996
The initiator of the meeting of Hungarian political parties and the political and social organizations from Hungary and neighbouring countries – the Hungarian-Hungarian summit, the so-called first Hungarian-Hungarian summit, which took place on July 5, 1996. At this event, a dual paradigm was formulated: staying in one’s homeland and thriving there, which remained valid until 2002. One of the initiators is the national strategic conference held within the framework of the Third World Congress of Hungarians. In his speech, the idea of the reintegration of the Hungarian nation beyond borders was first articulated. He formulates the strategic goal of the re-unification of the Hungarian nation without border modifications, and states: Hungary cannot be the motherland for Hungarians living in neighbouring states, as parts of the nation in the Carpathian Basin have been moved to other states not through resettlement, but through the division of historic Hungary, along with their homeland.
It openly advocates the union of Hungarian parties in Slovakia under the slogan “less is more.”
It comes into possession of a document stating that the Slovak Information Service (information agency) received an order for moral and political destruction, but if this proves unsuccessful, physical liquidation could also be considered.
1996-1998
Vice-President of the Liberal International.
1996-2000
Chairman of the National Strategy Committee of the World Federation of Hungarians
1997
First to state that the legal status of the separated Hungarian national parts in Hungary must be regulated by law.
1998-1999
The unification of the three Hungarian parties in Slovakia. A condition for this was that Duray could not be the president of the united party, so he was elected honorary president of the Hungarian Coalition Party. The position was abolished at his request in 1999, and the MKP executive vice president position was established.
1998
The originator of the idea of the Hungarian Permanent Conference (MÁÉRT), one of the initiators of its creation.
1999-2002
Permanent representative of the Hungarian Coalition Party in the MÁÉRT, where he works in its Integration Committee. During the Medgyessy government, the president of the MKP revoked his mandate as a representative of the party in the MÁÉRT, but in 2004 he participated in the work of the body again at the last meeting of the MÁÉRT.
1999
First initiator of the law on Hungarians living in states neighbouring the Republic of Hungary (status law). He came up with the basic idea of the Hungarian Identity Card system. After the adoption of the law, he was the holder of the Hungarian Identity Card number 1.
1999-2007
Vice President of the Executive Committee of the Hungarian Coalition Party. He is unable to perform his duties due to internal party conflicts. In 2007, the party abolished this position so that Duray could not interfere in party organization.
2001
At his initiative, the Alliance for Common Goals was established in Slovakia, a legal association created by five national Hungarian organizations (the MKP, CSEMADOK, the Slovakian Hungarian Parents’ Association, the Slovakian Hungarian Teachers’ Association, and the Slovakian Hungarian Scouts’ Association) to handle matters related to Hungarian IDs and the status law.
2002
He deliveres a speech in Budapest at the meeting of civil political forces at Kossuth Square, in front of approximately one and a half million participants. Because of this, he is subjected to attacks from Hungarian post-communist forces and from Slovak opposition and government politics. Ninety Slovak Hungarians (including two Kossuth Prize-winning writers) also criticize him in an open letter and call on the Hungarian Coalition Party to get rid of him – they receive encouragement from some high-ranking officials of the party. Renowned Hungarian artists and intellectuals have come to its defense in an open letter, and in Slovakia, about a thousand Hungarian intellectuals have come to its defense with a document titled “The Ten Commandments of Our European Future.”
2004
In Hungarian public life, two important events take place this year. This is when Hungary’s economic and moral collapse accelerates with the formation of the Gyurcsány government, and the Hungarian national policy in Hungarian government politics ceases. Accompanying this is a referendum initiated by the World Federation of Hungarians regarding the so-called dual citizenship of Hungarians beyond the borders. Duray in 2000, when he leads the MVSZ strategic committee, rejects the idea that citizenship should become a key issue. He considers more important staying in one’s homeland and succeeding there, as well as the status law creating national cohesion. This is why he leaves the MVSZ. Nevertheless, he fully stands by the referendum on dual citizenship because he considers the division of the nation due to this even more dangerous. Therefore, he takes on a debate on television on December 3, 2004, with the incumbent Hungarian prime minister, who stood against the Hungarian citizenship of cross-border Hungarians. Due to conflicts related to citizenship, on November 11, 2004, the Gyurcsány government suspends the activities of MÁÉRT.
2005-2010
On the initiative of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, in response to the behavior of the incumbent Hungarian government, the Forum of Hungarians Beyond the Borders was established in Subotica. Duray – with one exception – participates in all meetings of the HTMSZF.
Since its founding – September 12, 2004 – he has actively participated in the work of the Carpathian Basin Hungarian Representatives’ Forum, which operates within the framework of the Hungarian Parliament., from 2008, he has been a member of the forum’s Standing Committee. In 2008, at his initiative, the minority workgroup was established alongside the Foreign Affairs and European Affairs Subcommittee, and the cooperation of local governments in Central Europe was launched. At the initiative of the member organizations of the KMKF, the Foundation for the Representation of Hungarian Minorities in Europe was established in 2008. Duray was a member of the foundation’s board of trustees until 2010.
2007-2010
Vice President of the Hungarian Coalition Party’s strategic committee. In two years, he developed the strategic foundation for the social development of Hungarians in the Upper Hungary region and established strategic planning workshops. However, the MKP did not require this.
2009
Through the cooperation of Dr. Gémesi György, the mayor of Gödöllő, the Association of Hungarian Local Governments, József Komlós, and Miklós Duray, the Central European Municipal and Settlement Development Association (KÖTESZ) was established and registered in Vienna. Duray was elected honorary president of the organization. However, during the government formed by FIDESZ-KDNP in 2010, the organization ceased its actual activity because of intrigues within the governing parties.
2010
His parliamentary mandate ceases because the Hungarian Coalition Party does not enter the parliament in the election. He resigns from his position within the party. His participation rights based on his previous party position and parliamentary mandate cease in the restructured MÁÉRT and KMKF, and his membership in the sparsely populated working group operating alongside the KMKF also ends. Subsequently, he resides in MÁÉRT and can only participate as an observer in the KMKF.
2011
He is invited by the KMKF to continue participating in the work of the board as an expert. He continues to work in the Regional Self-Government and Diaspora working groups. In November, he is elected as the president of the Association for Common Goals. On December 20, the board of trustees of the Civic Hungary Foundation awards him the 2011 Civic Hungary Award “for his struggle against communist ideology, for universal human and national rights, for strengthening the national consciousness of Hungarians around the world, for preserving Hungarian communities in the Highlands, for his activities in the interest of the reunification of the Hungarian nation across borders, and for his literary work.”
2022
His earthly life ended on December 30, 2022, in Budapest.
2023
His final resting place was in Lučenec, in the former Reformed cemetery, on January17.
Other public activities:
1960-1961
President of the School Organization of the Czechoslovak Youth Organization (CSISZ/ČSM)
1965-1968
Member and then Vice President of the Board of the Csemadok Bratislava Local Organization
1965-1969
Member of the Central Committee of Csemadok
1968-1969
Member of the National Presidency of Csemadok
1969
Secretary of the Bratislava District of Csemadok
Since 1991
Member of the World Federation of Hungarians (MVSZ)
1990-1994
Organizer and Vice President of the Central European Ethnic Groups Forum
1995-1996
Member of the Board of Trustees of the Hungária Television Public Foundation
1996-2000
Chairman of the Strategic Committee of the World Federation of Hungarians
1997-2001
Member of the Supervisory Board of the Simonyi Foundation
2000
Candidate for President of MVSZ, but withdrew due to internal conflicts within the organization
Since 2001
Vice President of the Association for Common Goals
Since 2002
President of the Danube-Tisza Regional Development and Communication Association
Since 2009
Honorary President of the Central European Association of Local Governments and Regional Development
Since 2011-2020
President of the Association of Legal EntitiesSince 2020
Honorary President of the Association of Legal Entities
Awards and Honors:
- Award of the Körösi Csoma Center, Tokyo, 1986
- Bethlen Gábor Award, Budapest, 1988
- Ius Humana Award, München-Buffalo, 1992
- Esterházy János Memorial Medal, Rákóczi Association, Budapest, 1995
- Hungarians Award, privately established award, Budapest, 1995
- Tőkés László Award, Kisvárda, 1996
- Berzsenyi Dániel Award, Kaposvár, 1996
- Stephanus Rex award for national unity, preservation of culture and environment. Awarded by the Foundation for the City, Environment and Culture, Budapest, 1996
- Cross of Merit of the 1956 Hungarian war of independence, Budapest, 1999
- Loyalty award, Budapest-Cece, 1999
- Golden Letter of Faithful Friendship – Gypsy Scientific and Artistic Society, Budapest, 2000
- Hungarian Heritage Award, Budapest, 2000
- Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, Budapest, 2001
- For the Hungarian Art Award, Budapest, 2002
- Stephen Award, Esztergom, 2003
- For the Hungarian Liberty Award, Gödöllő, 2005
- For Hungarianism Award, Szarvas, 2006
- Árpád Armour, Holdvilágárok Foundation, 2008
- Széchenyi Society Award, Budapest, 2010
- Civil Hungary Award, 2011
- For Human Dignity Award, 2013
- Man of the Homeland, recognition of the Council of Hundreds
- Knight of Culture, 2018
- Knight of Hungarian Culture, 2016
- Pro Probitate – For resilience, 2020 (the award ceremony was in 2021)
Other recognitions:
- “Man of the Year”, poll of the Slovak Hungarian daily newspaper Új Szó, 1992
- Rákóczi Memorial Medal, Rákóczi Association, Budapest, 1995
- Cross of Merit on Green Ribbon for the Community of Political Convicts, Budapest, 1996
- Pro Urbe – Neszmély, 1998
- Gold Diploma of the European Union Hungary Association, Szombathely, 1999
- Jubilee Memorial Medal of the Rákóczi Association, Budapest, 1999
- Honorary Member of the Rákóczi Hungarian House, Rozsnyó, 2001
- Eternal Honorary Member of the Széchenyi Circle, Munich, 2002
- Honorary Member of the Community of Political Convicts (1945-1956), Budapest 2003
- Balaton Academy, awarded “From Homeland to Nation” volume with the Book of the Year Award, Keszthely, 2004
- 56th Freedom Fighter Cross from the World Federation of Verified Hungarian Freedom Fighters, Budapest, 2005
- Honorary member of the Nagykovácsi “Count Tista István” National Circle, Nagykovácsi, 2005
- European Democrat of the Year, recognition from the creative team of Kossuth Radio’s Sunday News, Budapest, 2005
- Bolyai Memorial Ring, Cluj-Napoca, 2007
- Commendation for the 20th anniversary of the founding of Coexistentia – Coexistence – Wspólnota – Soužití, Český Těšín, 2010
- Brotherly Friendship Gold Certificate, recognition from the Gypsy Scientific and Artistic Society, Budapest, 2010
- Commemorative Medal for Hungarian Political Prisoners of 1945-56, Budapest, 2010
and many other recognitions, honorary diplomas, thanks.
Honorary Citizen:
- Érsekkéty Municipality, 2002
Honorary Citizen:
- Hódmezővásárhely City, Terény and Mány villages, 2005
Member
- of the Slovak Reformed Church congregation in Leva, 2010
Order Membership:
- Member of the Knightly Order, based on personal merit, 2003
Organizational Membership:
- Old Scout of the Korvin Mátyás Scout Group, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 1989
- Rákóczi Association, 1989
- Founding member of the Salon for Hungarian Art, Budapest, 1995
- Council of Hundreds, 2005
- Gypsy Writers’ Association, Honorary Vice President, 2011
- Hungarian Writers’ Association, 2012
