Zoltán Pokorni (born 10 January 1962) is a Hungarian educator and politician, who served as Minister of Education between 1998 and 2001. He finished his studies in the Eötvös Loránd University in 1987. After that he worked as a teacher for the Toldy Ferenc Grammar School. He was a founding member of the Association of Young Educators and the Democratic Union of Educators (PDSZ). He was the spokesman of PDSZ until 1993. He also took part in the negotiations of the Opposition Round Table. During that time he was the chief editor of ''Rádió''. He joined

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 ...

in 1993. Pokorni became a member of 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-proport ...

in 1994. He was a deputy chairman of the Committee of Education, Research, Youth and Sport between 1994 and 1998. He served as leader of Fidesz's

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamenta ...

from 1997 to 1998. After Fidesz won the 1998 elections, the new Prime Minister

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between ...

appointed him Minister of Education. During his ministership, the integration of the higher education systems were finalized, the

student loan A student loan is a type of loan designed to help students pay for post-secondary education and the associated fees, such as tuition, books and supplies, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in the fact that the interest r ...

system established and

tuition Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

was abolished. He was elected as the President of Fidesz, succeeding

László Kövér László Kövér (; born 29 December 1959) is a Hungarian politician and the current speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary. He was the acting president of Hungary from 2 April 2012 to 10 May 2012, after the resignation of Pál Schmitt. ...

. As a result, he resigned from his ministerial position. After Fidesz lost the 2002 elections he once again became the leader of the parliamentary group. In July 2002 after it was exposed that his father, János Pokorni, worked for the Ministry of the Interior as a III/III agent, Pokorni resigned from his position at the party and also as leader of the parliamentary group. He returned to politics in May 2003, when he was elected as one of the vice presidents of Fidesz. He held this office until December 2015. He gained a seat on the

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican president ...

again. He did not take on the function of group leader because of his conflicts with the party leadership. Pokorni was elected as mayor of the XII District of Budapest (

Hegyvidék Hegyvidék (german: Bergland, literally "''Highlands''", or "''Mountain-land''") is the official name of the XII district of Budapest ( hu, Budapest XII. kerülete), capital of Hungary. It is a region of Buda, on the west bank of river Danube ...

) in 2006. He was re-elected in 2010, 2014 and 2019.

Personal life

Married, his wife is Andrea Beck psychologist. They have four children: Benedek Donát (1992), Ágoston Jakab (1996), Ábel Boldizsár (1999) and Barnabás Vince (2001).

References

Pokorni Zoltán honlapja

Hegyvidéki Önkormányzat honlapja

Pokorni Zoltán országgyűlési adatlapja

Pokorni Zoltán életrajza a Fidesz honlapján
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokorni, Zoltan 1962 births Living people Fidesz politicians Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1994–1998) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1998–2002) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2002–2006) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2006–2010) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2010–2014) Education ministers of Hungary Politicians from Budapest Eötvös Loránd University alumni Hungarian schoolteachers