Gergely Homonnay (24 August 1969 – 1 January 2022) was a Hungarian writer, journalist, teacher, author, human rights, political and

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

-activist

Life and career

Born in Gyula,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, he studied English and German at the Faculty of Arts in the

University of Szeged The University of Szeged () is a Public university, public research university in Szeged, Hungary. Established as the Jesuit Academy of Kolozsvár in present-day Cluj-Napoca in 1581, the institution was re-established as a university in 1872 by ...

, then studied law in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

and the Faculty of Law at the

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...

. He worked as a translator for a photo agency, then as a journalist and blogger for years. He took a strong and unvarnished stance on political and social issues, and his three books written to show the world and politics through the eyes of his cat, Erzsi - published between 2016 and 2018 - made him and his sharp opinion widely known among Hungarian readers. Gergely Homonnay often raised his voice for socially deprived groups and animal welfare, and - according to his and Erzsi cat's social media pages - ran numerous fundraising campaigns to support domestic and international NGOs as well as individuals in need. He turned up in public life as one of the organisers and speakers of the anti-government demonstration "Mi vagyunk a tobbseg! (We are the Majority!)" after the Hungarian elections in 2018, and has attracted many of both followers and political enemies since. He was condemned for libel, after calling president candidate Katalin Novák "dirty nazi scum".

Death

At the time of his death he had already left Hungary, and been living in Rome for more than a year. According to Italian articles published the following days, he was found dead in a gay bar in Rome on New Year's Day in 2022. All that is known with certainty about the circumstances of his death so far that it is currently under investigation as a crime case.

References

1969 births 2022 deaths Hungarian journalists Hungarian emigrants Hungarian writers Hungarian activists Democratic Coalition (Hungary) politicians University of Szeged alumni Eötvös Loránd University alumni People from Gyula Hungarian LGBTQ rights activists {{Hungary-journalist-stub