Hunor Kelemen (born 18 October 1967) is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n politician and

Hungarian language Hungarian () is an Uralic language spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Outside Hungary, it is also spoken by Hungarian ...

writer. The current president of the

Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR; hu, Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség, RMDSZ; ro, Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România, UDMR) is a political party in Romania which aims to represent the significant Hungarian m ...

(UDMR), he has been a member of the

Romanian Chamber of Deputies ); – Committee for Industries and Services ( ro, Comisia pentru industrii și servicii); – Committee for Transport and Infrastructure ( ro, Comisia pentru transporturi și infrastructură); – Committee for Agriculture, Forestry, Food Indu ...

since 2000, and was nominated as his party's candidate for the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

presidential elections. From December 2009 to May 2012 he was Romania's

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...

in the

Emil Boc Emil Boc (; born 6 September 1966) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 22 December 2008 until 6 February 2012 and is the current Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, the largest city of Transylvania, where he was first elected in Ju ...

and

Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu (; born 22 September 1968) is a Romanian historian, politician and former Prime Minister of Romania. He was the foreign minister of Romania from 28 December 2004 to 12 March 2007, and he was appointed as Director of the F ...

governments, a role he has reprised between March and October 2014 in the government headed by

Victor Ponta Victor Viorel Ponta (; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian jurist and politician, who served as Prime Minister of Romania between his appointment by President Traian Băsescu in May 2012 and his resignation in November 2015. A former member of ...

. In 2000, Hunor Kelemen was awarded the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...

, Commander rank, and in 2008

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

's Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit.Curriculum vitae
at th
Romanian Chamber of Deputies website
Retrieved on October 6, 2009 In 2012, he married Éva Czézár; the civil ceremony took place at Cârța Town Hall, while the religious wedding was held at St. Michael's Church in

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

Biography

An ethnic Hungarian, he was born in Cârța. He completed

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

in Ineu-Ciuc, and the gymnasium in his native locality, while practising

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

in the school's team. After completing high school in

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the List of cities and towns in Romania, 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of the 2011 Romania ...

, he enrolled in the

University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca The University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca (USAMVCN) ( ro, Universitatea de Științe Agricole și Medicină Veterinară Cluj-Napoca) is a university in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. With around 6,000 students, the uni ...

, graduating as a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

in 1993, and then in the Faculty of Philosophy of the

Babeș-Bolyai University The Babeș-Bolyai University ( ro, Universitatea Babeș-Bolyai , hu, Babeș-Bolyai Tudományegyetem, commonly known as UBB) is a public research university located in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. UBB has a long academic tradition, started by Universitas ...

, graduating in 1998.Despre mine
a
Hunor Kelemen's official site
Retrieved on October 6, 2009. Following the

Revolutions of 1989 The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...

, Hunor Kelemen was one of the founders of the

cultural magazines ''Jelenlét'' and later became deputy editor in chief. After 1993 he also collaborated with the Hungarian language magazine '' Korunk'', and between 1990 and 1997 he was editor of cultural and political shows for the

Radio Cluj Radio Cluj is a Romanian public radio station from Cluj-Napoca, broadcasting throughout Transylvania. It features Romanian and Hungarian language programmes. References External links * Article about Radio Cluj Mass media in Cluj-Napoca ...

, part of the

Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company ( ro, Societatea Română de Radiodifuziune), informally referred to as Radio Romania ( ro, Radio România), is the public radio broadcaster in Romania. It operates FM and AM, and internet national and lo ...

. In 1995 Hunor Kelemen published his first poetry volume in Hungarian language, ''Mínuszévek'', for which he was awarded the Debut Prize of the

Writers' Union of Romania The Writers' Union of Romania (), founded in March 1949, is a professional association of writers in Romania. It also has a subsidiary in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova. The Writers' Union of Romania was created by the communist regime by taking ...

in 1996. He further published a novel, ''A madárijesztők halála'' ("The scarecrow's death"), in 1999, and a second poetry volume, ''A szigetlakó'' ("The islander"), in 2001, both in Hungarian language. Kelemen entered politics in 1997, when he was appointed as Secretary of State from the UDMR in the Romanian government's

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

. He held this post until 2000, when he was elected in the lower house of the

Romanian Parliament The Parliament of Romania ( ro, Parlamentul României) is the national bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies ( ro, Camera Deputaților) and the Senate ( ro, Senat). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament in Bu ...

on the UDMR list. He was re-elected in 2004 and in 2008, obtaining over 50% of the votes in his electoral college in the latter elections. In June 2009, the UDMR Council of the Union Representatives voted Hunor Kelemen as candidate for the office of

President of Romania The president of Romania ( ro, Președintele României) is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Constitution of Romania, Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves ...

in that year's November elections. On this occasion Kelemen declared his program will include a proposal for Hungarian ethnic autonomy, in a way "that would not upset the Romanian ethnics".

Mediafax Mediafax ({{IPA-ro, ˌmedi.aˈfaks) is a Romanian media company headquartered in Bucharest and founded in 1991. It is a part of the MediaPro Group and its primary line of business is a news and photography service. The company's ''Mediafax Busines ...

,
Kelemen Hunor a fost votat drept candidat al UDMR la Preşedinţie
'. June 27, 2009. Retrieved on October 6, 2009. In July, at a summer camp organised by the UDMR at

Băile Tușnad Băile Tușnad (; hu, Tusnádfürdő, ) is a town in Harghita County, Romania in eastern Transylvania. With a population of 1,617, it is the smallest town in Romania by population. It is located at an altitude of 650 metres in the southern reac ...

, he acknowledged that, as a Hungarian ethnic, he had no chance to win, but he presented the motives that led to his candidature: the desire of the Hungarian community of Romania to have a candidate of its own, the need to fill the traditional Hungarian segment in Romanian politics, and the need to present the message of the Hungarian minority to the Romanian majority.Izabela Niculescu,
Kelemen Hunor: UDMR are candidat la prezidențiale pentru a nu ceda spațiul politic altora
', in

Cotidianul image:Cotidianul.png, The logo used between 2003 and 2007 ''Cotidianul'' (meaning ''The Daily'' in English) is a Romanian language newspaper published in Bucharest, Romania. History and profile Founded by Ion Raţiu, ''Cotidianul'' was first ...

, July 9, 2009. Retrieved on October 6, 2009 He received 372,764 votes (3.83% of the ballot). He performed better in the regions with important Hungarian communities, winning a majority in the counties of

Harghita Harghita (, hu, Hargita megye, ) is a county ( județ) in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Demographics 2002 census In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a populatio ...

(71.2%) and

Covasna Covasna (, hu, Kovászna, , german: Kowasna) is a town in Covasna County, Transylvania, Romania, at an altitude of . It is known for its natural mineral waters and mofettas. The town administers one village, Chiuruș ( hu, Csomakőrös). The ...

(52.8%), and the second place in Mureș and Satu Mare. On December 20, 2009, Emil Boc, nominated as prime-minister by the re-elected

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions between 1991 ...

, proposed Hunor Kelemen as the Minister of Culture in the PDL-UDMR coalition government. The proposal was met with strong protests by PDL vice-president Cezar Preda, who declared that his party made the "greatest political mistake of the last years". Following unofficial protests from the Patriarch of the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of ...

, the Religious Affairs, previously subordinated to the Ministry of Culture, were put under the direct control of the prime-minister. Reportedly, the Orthodox Church was dissatisfied with being subordinated to a minister of a different denomination. The cabinet was approved by the Parliament on December 23, 2009.Mediafax,
Romanian PM Gains Parliament Confidence Vote For New Cabinet
'. December 23, 2009. Retrieved on December 23, 2009. Kelemen left government in May 2012 when the Răzvan Ungureanu government lost a vote of confidence and was replaced by one led by

Electoral history

Presidential elections

References

External links

2009 campaign site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelemen, Hunor 1967 births Living people People from Harghita County Romanian veterinarians Hungarian-language writers Babeș-Bolyai University alumni Romanian writers Romanian educators Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania Romanian Ministers of Culture Candidates for President of Romania Commander's Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil)