József Torgyán (16 November 1932 − 22 January 2017) was a Hungarian lawyer and politician, chairman of the

Independent Smallholders' Party The Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party (), known mostly by its acronym FKgP or its shortened form Independent Smallholders' Party (), is a list of political parties in Hungary, political party in Budapest, Hungary. During ...

(1991−2002), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (1998−2001) in the Government of

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been the 56th prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has also led the Fidesz political party since 200 ...

Biography

Between 1951-1955 he studied at the Faculty of Law of 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 ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

(ELTE). He took part in the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

. After graduation, he worked as a lawyer, since political activity was repressed. In 1988 he was among the founders of the Independent Smallholders Party. In 1990 he received the first seat in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

(re-elected in 1994 and 1998). After

Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; ) is a national-conservative political party in Hungary led by Viktor Orbán. It has increasingly identified as illiberal. Originally formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young Democrats () as ...

had won the first round of the parliamentary elections in 1998, the Smallholders Party concluded an alliance with

, as a result of which center right parties obtained a majority in the National Assembly. The Smallholders Party, together with the

Hungarian Democratic Forum The Hungarian Democratic Forum (, , MDF) was a centre-right political party in Hungary. It had a Hungarian nationalist, national-conservative, Christian-democratic ideology. The party was represented continuously in the National Assembly from t ...

(MDF) became part of the ruling coalition that was led by

. In this government Torgyán held the position of deputy prime minister and minister for agriculture. In 2000 he was one of the candidates for the office of

President of Hungary The president of Hungary, officially the president of the republicUnder the Basic Law, adopted in 2011, the official name of the state is simply Hungary; Before, the state was called the Republic of Hungary. However, the office is nonetheless ...

. In the 2002 elections the party received no seats and found itself on the margins of politics. In 2006, Torgyán became chairman of the Hungarian Torgyán Renewal Movement.

Personal life and death

He married Mária Cseh in 1959, who was an actress in the National Theatre of Pécs. Their son, Atilla is an editor. He died on 22 January 2017 in Budapest.

Books

* Antalltól Orbánig (2005

* Kereszténység az ezer vallás világában 2006 * Humor a házban (2007) * Száll a turul fészkére (2016)

References

External links

Rövid életrajz

1991: az FKGP társelnökévé választják Torgyán doktort
Index, 2008. április 26.
Torgyán József interjú - Torgyán-Kisgazda-Koalíció
Magyarpartok, 2010. február 09. 1932 births 2017 deaths People from Mátészalka Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party politicians Ministers of agriculture of Hungary Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1990–1994) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1994–1998) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1998–2002) {{Hungary-politician-stub