28 Facts About Gyula Horn

Gyula Janos Horn was a Hungarian politician who was the Prime Minister of Hungary from 1994 to 1998.

Gyula Horn played a major role in demolishing the "Iron Curtain" for East Germans in 1989, contributing to the later unification of Germany.

Gyula Horn was born in Budapest in 1932 as the third child of transport worker Geza Gyula Horn who was of Jewish background and factory worker Anna Csornyei.

Gyula Horn first studied in a lower technicians' school in Hungary.

Gyula Horn graduated from the Rostov-on-Don College of Economics and Finance in 1954.

Gyula Horn finished the political academy of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party in 1970.

Gyula Horn married statistician Anna Kiraly in February 1956 and had two children: Anna and Gyula, Jr.

In 1954 Gyula Horn joined the Hungarian communist party, then called the Hungarian Working People's Party.

Gyula Horn worked in the Ministry of Finance from 1954 to 1959.

Gyula Horn got a job in the Foreign Ministry in 1959, first as an official in the independent Soviet department.

In 1969 Gyula Horn became an official in the foreign affairs department of the MSZMP Central Committee.

Gyula Horn is often credited with having a major part in the decision and, consequently, a role in German unification.

Gyula Horn helped lead the transformation of the MSZMP into the Hungarian Socialist Party later in 1989.

Gyula Horn was elected to Parliament in 1990 and retained a seat until the 2010 parliamentary election.

Gyula Horn served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs between 1990 and 1993, until his resignation.

Gyula Horn functioned as one of the vice presidents of the Socialist International from 1996 to 2003.

Gyula Horn led the Socialists to a comprehensive victory in the 1994 parliamentary election.

Gyula Horn wanted to allay concerns both inside and outside Hungary of a former Communist party winning an absolute majority.

In 1995, Gyula Horn's government enacted the "Bokros package", a major austerity program.

Gyula Horn received second place in the election list of the MSZP during the 2004 European Parliament election in Hungary, however Horn stated before the election that would not become an MEP.

Gyula Horn has received several awards for his achievements in foreign relations, among others the Charlemagne Award of the city of Aachen in 1990.

Gyula Horn did not get the Civil Division of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary in 2007, suggested by Ferenc Gyurcsany, as it was refused by Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom, who explicitly stated Horn's views on the 1956 revolution as the reason.

Gyula Horn's alleged role is controversial in some circles because such squads were accused of involvement in torturing, harassing and even executing civilians during and after the uprising.

Gyula Horn was survived by his wife and daughter, Anna, and son, Gyula Jr.

Gyula Horn played a key role in reviving the left and the Socialist party.

Gyula Horn received a state funeral with military honors and was buried at Fiume Road National Graveyard on 8 July 2013.

Socialist lawmaker Ferenc Baja, a former minister in the Gyula Horn government, said in a Facebook entry that this was derogative to the event.

Gyula Horn was not perfect, he made some bad decisions, but the good decisions outnumbered the bad ones.