The Reformed pastor whose attempted eviction in Timișoara sparked the Romanian Revolution
The crowd forgot the initial reason for their resistance, and in general terms they opposed the regime itself.
A Hungarian Reformed pastor from Cluj, he openly criticised Ceaușescu's systematisation programme (the planned destruction of rural villages) and denounced human rights abuses in a secretly recorded interview with Hungarian television, making himself a target of the Securitate. On 16 December 1989, when parishioners gathered at his Timișoara parsonage to block his forced eviction, the protest swelled into an anti-regime uprising that became the direct trigger of the Romanian Revolution. After the revolution he was elected bishop of the Reformed Diocese of Királyhágómellék in Oradea, dedicated himself to rebuilding the church and Hungarian-language education, and served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2019.
Career Timeline
- 1975Graduated Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj; ordained Reformed pastor
- 1981–1982Contributed to underground journal Ellenpontok; first Securitate harassment
- 1986Appointed assistant pastor of the Reformed Church in Timișoara
- 1988–1989Openly criticised systematisation; secret TV interview made him a Securitate target
- 1989.12.16Protest against his eviction swelled into the Romanian Revolution
- 1990Elected bishop of the Reformed Diocese of Királyhágómellék in Oradea
- 2007–2019Member of the European Parliament (Vice-President 2010–2012)