István Vágó (14 February 1949 – 29 April 2023) was a Hungarian

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people who garnered fam ...

and political activist, best known as the host of "Legyen ön is Milliomos!" the Hungarian version of ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Televis ...

''.

Life and career

Vágó was born and raised in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. His original profession was a chemist, but he found a job working for Medimpex import-export company. Vágó spoke at least five languages. When Vágó began his television career he wanted to create a political show, but it was impossible to create one like he wanted (dealing with internal politics, analyzing decisions of the system) at the time so he ended up hosting quiz shows. Vágó hosted various game shows, mostly quiz shows, since the '70s. He became one of the more popular television personalities in Hungary, and was usually known as "The Quiz Professor" by Hungarians. Vágó hosted ''Millionaire'' for several years; after a hiatus the show returned to the air in 2007, with Vágó hosting the redesigned show once again. The second run proved less successful and was canceled in 2008. Vágó was the host of

Magyar Televízió Magyar Televízió (, ''Hungarian Television'') or MTV is a nationwide public television broadcasting organization in Hungary. Headquartered in Budapest, it is the oldest television broadcaster in Hungary and today airs five channels: M1 HD, ...

(MTV) for 22 years, then he changed for TV2, then

RTL Klub RTL (formerly: RTL Klub and abbreviated as RTL HU) is a Hungarian free-to-air television channel owned by RTL Group. History Since its start, RTL Klub has focused to gain viewers from the urban population. The channel airs programs mostly for ...

. In 2009, he was the host of TV2, then hosted a game show ''Átvágó'', co-created by himself on Story4, which was cancelled after one season. Following the cancellation of ''Átvágó'' he announced his retirement as a television host.

Politics and views

Vágó was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

and

skeptic Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

, and was the former president of the Hungarian Skeptic Society. He vocally supported the Hungarian

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

, most notably former prime minister

Ferenc Gyurcsány Ferenc Gyurcsány (; born 4 June 1961) is a Hungarian entrepreneur and retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 2004 to 2009. Prior to that, he held the position of Government of Hungary, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sp ...

and the liberal

SZDSZ The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party (, , SZDSZ ) was a liberal political party in Hungary. The SZDSZ was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and of Liberal International. It drew its su ...

party. He was present at

antifascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

demonstrations. Vágó spawned controversy when he campaigned vocally for Ferenc Gyurcsány and health minister Ágnes Horváth. In 2014 he participated in the elections as a representative of the left wing, supporting Gyurcsány's party, Democratic Coalition. In the 2014 municipal election, he ran as a candidate for local government as a joint candidate for the Democratic Coalition, the MSZP, the Co-PM, and the "European Federalists", though he told ATV that he did not understand local government politics. According to its flyer program, it would introduce a fairer local tax, abolish toll parking at unjustified locations, and take over the building, the burial cemetery of St. John's Parish in Upper Christina City on Apor Vilmos Square, and make it a playhouse to preserve Normafa and prevent any investment planned there. In an interview with HVG, he spoke in favor of Ferenc Gyurcsány and said that he was working to make DK leader a challenge for

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been the 56th prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has also led the Fidesz political party since 200 ...

. In January 2015, he joined the Democratic Coalition and became the leader of the party's media working group. In September 2016, Vágó was elected DK XII. District Representative to the party's national organization, replacing Szabolcs Kerék-Bárczy, who left the party.

Personal life and death

Vágó played the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

since his early teens, and was the

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

of Hungarian band Favágók. He was a fan of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

. Vágó died on 29 April 2023, at age 74.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vago, Istvan 1949 births 2023 deaths Hungarian game show hosts Hungarian bass guitarists Male bass guitarists Scientific skeptics Hungarian atheism activists Democratic Coalition (Hungary) politicians 20th-century atheists 21st-century atheists Musicians from Budapest