Géza Jeszenszky

Géza Jeszenszky (born 10 November 1941) is a Hungarian politician and associate professor, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and a former ambassador to the United States. He was ambassador of Hungary to Norway and Iceland from 2011 to 2014. He was born as Géza Jeszenszky de Nagyjeszen (nagyjeszeni Jeszenszky Géza) in Budapest into the Jeszenszky family of noble origin from Túróc County (today Turiec in Slovakia). His paternal grandfather was Géza Jeszenszky Sr., a lawyer who married Jolán Puchly, daughter of 1848 freedom fighter János Puchly. Their son was Zoltán Jeszenszky (1895–1986), a banker. His maternal grandfather was János Miskolczy-Simon, who fought in World War I and died near Lemberg (now Lviv in Ukraine) in 1914. He married Sarolta Kovács, a music teacher and pianist. Their daughter was Pálma Miskolczy-Simon (b. 1910), who inherited her mother's pianist vocation. Géza Jeszenszky finished his primary and secondary studies in Budapest. His class tutor and history teacher was József Antall. For two years his entire class cohort was restricted from university admission because of a commemoration they held for the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He attended the Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Humanities between 1961 and 1966. He took part in the 1956 Revolution at the age of 15, without weapon. As a professor, he often wrote articles in underground publications against Marxism and the ruling Hungarian Socialist Worker's Party (MSZMP). In 1987, he took part in the Lakitelek Summit where he, along with many opposition politicians and white-collar workers, founded the Hungarian Democratic Forum. He was the Chairman of the new party's Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1988 to 1990. The MDF won the first parliamentary elections in Hungary, and Prime Minister József Antall appointed his former pupil as Minister of Foreign Affairs. During his tenure he had a significant role in dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the territory of the country.