President of Hungary from 2000 to 2005
Ferenc Madl
(
Hungarian pronunciation:
[?f?r?nt?s
?maːdl?]
; 29 January 1931 ? 29 May 2011)
[1]
was a Hungarian legal scholar, professor, and politician, who served as
President of Hungary
, between 4 August 2000 and 5 August 2005. Prior to that he had been minister without portfolio between 1990 and 1993 then
Minister of Education
between 1993 and 1994 in the conservative cabinets of
Jozsef Antall
and
Peter Boross
.
Madl ran unsuccessfully for the position of President of Hungary in 1995, defeated by
Arpad Goncz
. Five years later he was
elected
head of state as the candidate of the governing conservative coalition.
Studies and scientific activities
[
edit
]
Madl was awarded a diploma from the
Faculty of Law
of the
Eotvos Lorand University
in 1955. Between 1961?1963 he studied at the faculty of international comparative law of the
University of Strasbourg
.
[2]
He was awarded an academic degree as candidate of politics and law in 1964, and he received a doctorate in 1974 with his dissertation "The company and economic competition in the law of European economic integration".
In 1987 he was elected a corresponding member of the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
, and then in 1993 he was made a full member of the Academy.
In his scientific activities he has primarily dealt with matters of civil law, private international law and legal problems related to international economic relations, as well as European law.
He was secretary of the Scientific Qualifying Committee between 1984?1990, from 1985 he was a member of the Harvard Academy of International Commercial Law, from 1988 a member of the steering committee of the Rome international institute (
UNIDROIT
) for unifying private law, while from 1989 he was appointed as a central judge on the Washington-based international selected court for states and foreign investors. Besides the aforementioned positions he held he also assisted in the editing of several scientific journals and the work of scientific organizations, and was a member of several international academies.
[3]
Madl lectured at numerous foreign universities as guest professor, and was the author of several books and studies.
Professional career
[
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]
From 1955 Madl worked as a legal clerk and then as court secretary, then between 1956 and 1971 he worked as political and legal rapporteur at the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Central Office, later being promoted to head of department.
From 1971 he taught at the Budapest University of Sciences Department of Civil Law as a docent, before continuing this work as university tutor from 1973. In the meantime, between 1972 and 1980 he was on the staff of the Hungarian Academy's Institute of Politics and Law, and from 1978 until 1985 he held the post of director of the Institute of Civil Sciences.
[4]
He was the director of the Faculty of Private International Law of the Budapest University of Sciences from 1985 until his death in May 2011.
He was not affiliated with any party. He undertook a role in political life after the change to democracy in 1989. From 23 May 1990 to 22 February 1993 as minister without portfolio in
Jozsef Antall
's government.
[4]
He was charged with supervising the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; he assisted in defining government science policy goals as well as closely observing the harmonization of related state tasks and their implementation; on the basis of separate commissions he represented the government and the prime minister in international organizations; he cooperated with the ministers for justice, foreign affairs and international economic relations in the realization of certain tasks. From 1991 he also fulfilled duties as government commissioner in connection with the
B?s-Nagymaros
hydroelectric power plant
project. At the instigation of the government, in late 1992 an inter-portfolio committee was formed under his chairmanship to research those works of art illegally taken to the former
Soviet Union
from Hungary during and after the Second World War, with the aim of winning their return.
He took the post of chairman of the board of directors of the State Property Agency on 1 August 1990, and from 1992 he exercised, on the authority of the government, supervisory powers over the State Bank Supervisory Authority, at the same time being appointed chairman of the Bank Supervisory Authority Committee, a role he filled until February 1993. He also exercised supervisory control over the Central Office of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the National Scientific Research Fund. He was appointed chairman of the government's Science Policy Committee in August 1990, and he headed the Human Resources Policy Cabinet between 1992?1993.
[4]
Between 22 February 1993 and 15 July 1994 he was minister for culture and education.
[5]
Between February and July 1994 he filled the post of chairman of the Council for Higher Education and Science. Also in 1994, he was appointed chair of the National Cultural Fund. He stood as the opposition
MDF
-
KDNP
-
Fidesz
's nominee for President of the Republic in 1995. He had been chairman of the Hungarian Civil Cooperation Association since 1996. From 1999 he has been a member of the scientific advisory body for the
Viktor Orban
government.
[6]
On 15 March 1999 he was awarded the
Szechenyi Prize
for his internationally recognized scientific achievements in the areas of European law, private international law and international commercial law, as well as for his higher educational and scientific organizational efforts.
In September of the same year he was also honoured with the French order of the
Legion d'honneur
.
[4]
On 3 May 2000 he was nominated by Fidesz and the
FKGP
for the position of President of the Republic, which he accepted.
[7]
The
National Assembly of Hungary
elected Ferenc Madl President of the Republic on 6 June 2000. He was inaugurated as President of the Republic of Hungary on 4 August 2000.
[8]
His duty, by
Constitution
, extended to 5 years. His term as President ended in 2005: he did not want to run again for the office.
[9]
He was succeeded by
Laszlo Solyom
, an independent candidate of the right-wing opposition, who defeated
Katalin Szili
in the
indirect presidential election
.
After his presidency, Ferenc Madl served as an Honorary Co-Chair for the
World Justice Project
. The
World Justice Project
works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the
Rule of Law
for the development of communities of opportunity and equity.
[10]
Selected publications
[
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]
- A deliktualis felel?sseg a tarsadalom es a jog fejl?desenek torteneteben
(1964)
- Az Europai Gazdasagi Kozosseg joga
(1974)
- The Law of the European Economic Community: Enterprises, Economic Competition and the Economic Function of the State in the Process of Economic Integration
. Translated by Dr. J. Deczenyi. Budapest: Akademiai Kiado. 1978.
ISBN
963-05-1330-7
.
- Osszehasonlito nemzetkozi maganjog
(1978)
- The Law of Transactions
(1982)
- A kulgazdasag es a nemzetkozi beruhazasok joga
(1988)
- Madl, Ferenc; Buxbaum, Richard, eds. (1989). "State and Economy".
The International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law
. Vol. XVII. Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck GmbH & Co. KG.
- State and Economy in Transformation
(1997)
- EU Integration Process ? Enlargement and Institutional Reforms
(1997)
- Magyar nemzetkozi maganjog es a nemzetkozi gazdasagi kapcsolatok joga
(with Lajos Vekas, 1985?2004, 8 edition)
- Az europai orokseg utjain
(1995).
- Allam es gazdasag ? Forradalom a jog utjan a kozep- es kelet-europai orszagokban
(1997)
- Quo vadis, Europa?
(2004)
Family
[
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]
Madl was married to
Dalma Nemethy
; they had one son, Andras
[11]
and three grandchildren. His second cousin was Antal Madl, a
literary historian
and teacher.
[12]
Death
[
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]
Ferenc Madl died aged 80 on 29 May 2011.
[13]
Hungarian President
Pal Schmitt
paid tribute to Madl upon learning of his death. A statement released by his office said,
"Pal Schmitt learnt with deep sorrow of the former head of state's death, and on this day personally expressed his condolences to [Madl's] family."
Prime Minister
Viktor Orban
commented on posted on his
Facebook
page,
"We are shocked to hear the news. May he rest in peace!"
[1]
On 6 June a memorial was held for the late President at the Parliament, where legislative Speaker
Laszlo Kover
said that Ferenc Madl was a Christian man, who brought with him his faith from the village where he was raised.
[14]
He was buried in a Catholic ritual with military honours at the
Fiumei Street National Cemetery
on 7 June in a funeral ceremony starting at 16.30
CEST
.
[15]
Honors and awards
[
edit
]
On 8 November 2002, he was awarded the
Gold Medal of the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe
for his commitment to peace, liberty, justice and solidarity in Europe.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Elhunyt Madl Ferenc
Index.hu
- ^
Zarug, Peter Farkas (2011).
"Tortenelmi mozgasban - Madl Ferenc, a statusferfi"
.
Magyar Demokrata
. Retrieved
8 October
2015
.
- ^
"Madl Ferenc (1931-2011)"
. Nemzeti Emlekhely es Kegyeleti Bizottsag
. Retrieved
8 October
2015
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Madl Ferenc eletrajza"
. Origo.hu. 3 May 2000
. Retrieved
8 October
2015
.
- ^
Bolony, Jozsef ? Hubai, Laszlo:
Magyarorszag kormanyai 1848?2004
[Cabinets of Hungary 1848?2004], Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, 2004 (5th edition). p. 389.
- ^
"Madl Ferenc alkalmasnak tartja magat allamf?nek"
.
Index.hu
. 3 May 2000
. Retrieved
8 October
2015
.
- ^
"Madl Ferencet jelolik allamf?nek"
. Origo.hu. 3 May 2000
. Retrieved
8 October
2015
.
- ^
"A harmadik korben megvalasztottak allamf?nek Madl Ferencet"
. Origo.hu. 4 June 2000
. Retrieved
8 October
2015
.
- ^
Madl nem akar ujra koztarsasagi elnok lenni - a Fidesz bizakodik
Ma.hu
- ^
"World Justice Forum: Working Together to Advance the Rule of Law"
(PDF)
. The World Justice Project. 5 July 2008
. Retrieved
8 October
2015
.
- ^
Blikk - Zsuzsanna Scherer - Madl Ferencek felnek Anna kutyajatol
- ^
Madl Ferenc interjuja a Szabad Foldnek
Archived
10 September 2012 at
archive.today
solyomlaszlo.hu - Szabad Fold
- ^
Former Hungarian President Ferenc Madl dies
Archived
7 November 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
Xinhuanet
- ^
Former Hungarian President Buried Today
HungaryOne.com
- ^
Former president to be buried with military honors on June 7
Archived
7 November 2017 at the
Wayback Machine
Politics.hu
- ^
Lista osob odznaczonych w latach 1992-2005 (.pdf)
Archived
24 September 2015 at the
Wayback Machine
? prezydent.pl
- ^
List of recipients
- president.ee
- ^
"Odluka o odlikovanju Njegove Ekscelencije Ferenca Madla"
.
Narodne novine
(in Croatian). 15 March 2002
. Retrieved
10 July
2008
.
- ^
"Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav"
. bookrags.co
. Retrieved
30 May
2011
.
- ^
"Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunnan suurristin ketjuineen ulkomaalaiset saajat - Ritarikunnat"
. 9 October 2020.
- ^
"Received a copy of the key of the city of Tirana"
. Archived from
the original
on 5 October 2011
. Retrieved
18 October
2011
.
- ^
Getty Images, State Visit of Hungarian President, January 2005,
Group photo
External links
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