Péter János Zwack (21 May 1927 – 5 August 2012) was a Hungarian businessman, investor, philanthropist, diplomat and the Hungarian Ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from 1990 until 1991. He was the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and owner of the company

Zwack Zwack is a Budapest, Hungary based company that makes liqueurs and spirits. The company produces an 80 proof (40% alcohol) herbal liqueur known as Unicum from a secret blend of more than forty different herbs and spices. Unicum is known as one ...

Biography

In emigration

Zwack was born into a prominent family which owned the

PLC. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Budapest and the Zwack factory were completely destroyed. After the war, in 1948 the new Communist regime nationalized the factory. The Zwack family fled the country. János Zwack with his son Péter, great grandson of József Zwack, the founder of the factory, was able to escape with the original Zwack recipe in his pocket. Béla Zwack remained behind to give the communist government a "fake" Zwack recipe and went on to become a regular factory worker. Meanwhile, János and Péter migrated to the

and after several months in

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...

's refugee camp were granted US entry purely because they possessed the Zwack recipe. They later settled in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

in 1949 when Péter was 22 years old. It was in the U.S. that Péter learned all the ins and outs of the spirits industry. Together with Tibor Eckhardt he founded a charity named ''First Aid for Hungary'' in 1956 which helped the refugees of the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

Political career in Hungary

Zwack became chairman of the

Entrepreneurs' Party The Entrepreneurs' Party ( hu, Vállalkozók Pártja, VP) was a political party in Hungary between 1989 and 2007. History The party was formed in October 1989. In the 1990 elections it received almost 2% of the vote, but failed to win a seat.Di ...

in 1992. Two years later he made an electoral alliance with

SZDSZ The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party ( hu, Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt, SZDSZ) was a liberal political party in Hungary. The SZDSZ was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrat ...

Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán. It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...

and the

Agrarian Alliance The Agrarian Alliance – National Agrarian Party ( hu, Agrárszövetség – Nemzeti Agrár Párt, ASZ) was a political party in Hungary. History The alliance was formed in December 1989. In the March 1990 elections it ran alone in some consti ...

, according to which he was the joint candidate of the four parties in

Kecskemét Kecskemét ( , sk, Kečkemét) is a city with county rights central part Hungary. It is the eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's third ...

during the 1994 Hungarian parliamentary election. He won a seat to the

National Assembly of Hungary The National Assembly ( hu, Országgyűlés, lit=Country Assembly) is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 199 (386 between 1990 and 2014) members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is done using a semi-proporti ...

as the only independent MP. He resigned from his party leader position in 1995. Between 1995 and 1997 he was a member of the

Kossuth Prize The Kossuth Prize ( hu, Kossuth-díj) is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1948 (on occasion of the centenary of the March 15th revolution, the ...

and Széchenyi Prize Committee. During the 1998 Hungarian parliamentary election he was supported by SZDSZ but he did not repeat his success four years ago. After that he joined to SZDSZ. In 1999 he became a member of the party's leadership. He was one of the party's chargé d'affaires from 2000 to 2003. In 2002 he was elected to a member of the parliament again but he resigned half years later.

Death

Zwack died in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 5 August 2012 at the age of 85. The family business continues on led by his two youngest children, Sándor and Izabella.

Personal life

First he married in 1953. His wife was Iris Rogers. Together they had six children: Peter (1954), Gioia (1956), Alexa (1959), Iris (1961) and John (1965). This marriage lasted until 1969. His second wife was Anne Marshall. They married in 1973 and had together a son and a daughter: Sándor (1974) and Izabella (1976). zakonyi Péter - A pénz mágusai, Sikeres vállalkozók Magyarországon/ref>

References

External links

The Washington Diplomat Newspaper - Ambassador profile
*MTI Ki Kicsoda 2009, Magyar Távirati Iroda Zrt., Budapest, 2008, 1225. old., ISSN 1787-288X
Zwack Péter életrajzaZwack Péter országgyűlési adatlapja
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zwack, Peter 1927 births 2012 deaths Alliance of Free Democrats politicians Hungarian diplomats Hungarian emigrants to the United States Hungarian businesspeople Ambassadors of Hungary to the United States Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1994–1998) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2002–2006)