László Sólyom facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
László Sólyom
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Sólyom in 2009
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| President of Hungary | |
| In office 5 August 2005 – 5 August 2010 |
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| Prime Minister | Ferenc Gyurcsány Gordon Bajnai Viktor Orbán |
| Preceded by | Ferenc Mádl |
| Succeeded by | Pál Schmitt |
| President of the Constitutional Court | |
| In office 1 August 1990 – 24 November 1998 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | János Németh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 January 1942 Pécs Kingdom of Hungary |
| Died | 8 October 2023 (aged 81) |
| Political party | Independent (1989–2023) |
| Other political affiliations |
Hungarian Democratic Forum (1987–1989) |
| Spouses |
Erzsébet Sólyom
(m. 1966; died 2015) |
| Children | Benedek Beáta |
| Alma mater | University of Pécs |
László Sólyom (Hungarian: Sólyom László 3 January 1942 – 8 October 2023) was a Hungarian political figure, lawyer, and librarian who was President of Hungary from 2005 until 2010. Previously he was Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of Hungary from 1990 to 1998.
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Biography
He was born in the southern Hungarian city of Pécs. He graduated in law from the University of Pécs in 1965. He worked as a professor at universities and law institutes in Budapest: at the Faculty of Law of the Eötvös Loránd University from 1983 to 1993, at Péter Pázmány Catholic University from 1996 to 2005. He also worked at the University of Jena, Germany, for three years and earned the Dr. jur. title.
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 Gabčíkovo - Nagymaros Dams 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 to the newly established Constitutional Court of Hungary. He was elected as president of the court by his fellow judges half a 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 and environmental 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 equality and the human dignity even over the letters of the constitution. In his concurring opinion in the judgement on the unconstitutionality of capital punishment he writes: "In this context, the starting point is the Constitution as a whole. The Constitutional Court must continue its effort to explain the theoretical bases of the Constitution and the rights included in it and to form a coherent system with its decisions which as an „invisible Constitution” provides for a reliable standard of constitutionality beyond the Constitution, which nowadays is often amended out of current political interests."
After the end of his nine-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 became corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2001 and a full member in 2013.
He was member of the International Commission of Jurists (Geneva) 1994–2001, member of the advisory board of the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study (1995-2001).
Sólyom is widowed, has two children and eleven grandchildren.
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 Hungarian Democratic Forum, also endorsed him to become President of Hungary. However, if the governing parties had been united in support of the Hungarian Socialist Party candidate, Katalin Szili, Sólyom would not have secured enough votes to take the presidency; but because Szili was not acceptable to the Alliance of Free Democrats, the smaller party in the governing coalition, they abstained from voting, and Sólyom's election was secured.
The three pillars of the presidency of László Sólyom
- Maintaining the values of the rule of law in Hungary
- Expressing distinctive responsibility for the ethnic Hungarian minority groups living abroad in the neighboring countries of Hungary
- Calling the Hungarian and the international public's attention to environmental and ecological issues, such as the importance of biodiversity or the risks of climate change
Honours
Hungary: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (1999)
Germany: Grand Cross with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1998)
Estonia: Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (27 March 2006)
Latvia: Grand Cross of the Order of the Three Stars (31 August 2006)
Lithuania: Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of Vytautas the Great (31 August 2006)
Finland: Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (2006)
Spain: Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (25 May 2007)
Malta: Grand Cross with Chain of the National Order of Merit (31 May 2007)
Algeria: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (2 June 2007)
Kazakhstan: First Class of the Order of Friendship (23 November 2007)
Ukraine: Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (7 July 2008)
Peru: Grand Cross with Diamonds of the Order of the Sun of Peru (24 September 2008)
See also
In Spanish: László Sólyom para niños
