Former House Speaker Gyorgy Szabad buried

Budapest, July 21 (MTI) – Recently deceased Gyorgy Szabad, Hungary’s speaker of parliament between 1990-94, was buried in Budapest on Tuesday.

Speaking at the funeral ceremony, President Janos Ader said that Szabad’s life achievement conveys the message that “it is freedom and honesty that will make a man worthy, rather than riches, titles or power”. Szabad was one of those statesmen who “use their authority to serve the nation and democracy,” Ader added.

Despite all hardships, Szabad stayed faithful to his country, his Hungarian identity and his democratic principles, the president said in his address.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, House Speaker Laszlo Kover, as well as Laszlo Lovasz, President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and fellow politicians of the deceased.

In his address at the ceremony, Lovasz said that Szabad had been an outstanding historian and teacher, whose approach has left a mark on the development of several generations.

Gabor Erdody, vice rector of Budapest’s ELTE university and a former student, referred to his late professor as a “compass” giving direction not only in history but also in terms of problems of the present.

Szabad was a Szechenyi-prize-winning historian, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Batthyany Society of Professors. He died on July 3, aged 90.

He died on July 3, aged 90.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters