Géza Szőcs (21 August 1953 – 5 November 2020) was an ethnic Hungarian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, who served as Secretary of State for Culture of the Ministry of National Resources in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, 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 and ...

from 2 June 2010 to 13 June 2012.

Life

Szőcs was born in

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') 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 city in Romania, with 116,033 ...

, Romania. His father was (1928–2020), an ethnic Hungarian writer and translator from Romania. His mother is literary translator (b. 1928). He studied until 1979 at the

Babeș-Bolyai University The Babeș-Bolyai University ( , , commonly known as UBB) is a public research university located in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Established in 1581 as Academia Claudiopolitana, it underwent several reorganizations over the centuries, eventually taking ...

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

. On a proposal by András Sütő, he received a scholarship for the 1979–80 semester at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. Szőcs edited the Hungarian-language

samizdat Samizdat (, , ) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual rep ...

''Ellenpontok'', because of this he was interrogated and abused by

Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...

, secret police agency of the Ceaușescu regime. From 1986 to 1989, after working in the scientific literature seminar of the Babeș-Bolyai University, Géza Szőcs went into political exile in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he worked in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

as a journalist. Between 1989 and 1990, he conducted the

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 ...

studio of

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

. In 1989, he joined the staff of the magazine ''Magyar Napló'' of the Hungarian Writers' Association. In 1990, Szőcs returned to Cluj and was active in the

Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR; , RMDSZ ; , UDMR) is a political party in Romania which aims to represent the significant Hungarian minority of Romania. Officially considering itself a federation of minority interests ra ...

(RMDSZ), for which he sat from 1990 to 1992 in the

Romanian Senate 2012–2016 2008–2012 In December 2008, the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) and the political alliance established between the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Conservative Party (PC) formed a coalition government. 2004–2008 In the ...

. From 1993 to 2010, he was editor of the magazine ''A Dunánál'' in

. He was co-editor of the magazine ''Magyar Szemle'' and a member of the supervision of the Hungarian state television

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). Szőcs was a founding member of the Hungarian Civic Cooperation Association since 1996. In May 2010, he was appointed Hungary's Secretary of State for Culture by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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 2011, he was elected president of the Hungarian Pen Club. He resigned from his position in June 2012. He was replaced by László L. Simon. Szőcs became chief cultural adviser to Prime Minister Orbán. In 2013, He was appointed government commissioner for the Hungarian pavilion in

Expo 2015 Expo 2015 was a World's fair, World Expo hosted by Milan, Italy. It opened on May 1 at 10:00 Central European Summer Time, CEST and closed on October 31. Milan hosted an exposition for the second time; the first was the 1906 Milan Internation ...

. This activity was accompanied by a number of criticisms and scandals. The Hungarian pavilion, the "Shaman drum" cost HUF 2 billion of public funds. The design of the eclectic building received serious criticism. Szőcs was appointed Prime Ministerial Commissioner for Culture in 2018.

Personal life

Géza Szőcs had five children. Szőcs was infected with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in October 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary. He was admitted to a hospital in Budapest, where he was reportedly in serious condition in intensive care. According to

Index.hu Index is a Hungarian news website covering both Hungarian and international news. In 2018, it was the most visited Hungarian website with an average of 1.5 million daily readers. While most of the website's articles are written in Hungarian, Ind ...

, Szőcs was on ventilation for weeks. He died on 5 November 2020, of complications from COVID-19.

Works

* ''Te mentél át a vízen?''

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Kriterion, 1975. * ''Kilátótorony és környéke'' Bucharest, Kriterion, 1977. * ''Párbaj, avagy a huszonharmadik hóhullás''

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

, 1979. * ''A szélnek eresztett bábu''

, Magvető Könyvkiadó, 1986. * ''Az uniformis látogatása''

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Hungarian Human Rights Foundation, 1987. * ''Kitömött utcák, hegedűk''

Köln Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

-Budapest, Literarische Briefe/Irodalmi levelek, 1988. * ''A sirálybőr cipő'' Budapest, Magvető, 1989. * ''Históriák a küszöb alól'' Budapest, Szépirodalmi Kiadó, 1990. * ''A vendégszerető avagy Szindbád Marienbadban'' Budapest, Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, 1992. * ''A kisbereki böszörmények'' Cluj-Napoca, Erdélyi Híradó, 1995. * ''Ki cserélte el a népet?'' Cluj-Napoca, Erdélyi Híradó, 1996. * ''Passió'' Budapest, Magvető Könyvkiadó, 1999. * ''Drámák, hangjátékok'' Budapest, Kortárs kiadó, 2002. * ''A magyar ember és a zombi'' Budapest, Kortárs Kiadó 2003. * ''Liberté 1956'' Budapest, A Dunánál 2006. * ''Limpopo'' Budapest, Magvető 2007. * ''Beszéd a palackból'' Arad, Irodalmi Jelen Könyvek, 2008. * ''Amikor fordul az ezred'' (Beszélgetőkönyv és dokumentumgyűjtemény; Sz. G. és Farkas Wellmann Endre) Budapest, Ulpius-ház, 2009. * ''Nyestbeszéd'' (Szőcs Géza 33 verse Faludy György válogatásában) Budapest, Ulpius-ház, 2010. * ''Tasso Marchini és Dsida Jenő'' Budapest, Szent István Társulat, 2010. * ''La missione di Rasputin-Raszputyin küldetése'' Novara, Arcipelago Edizioni,

Awards

* 1976 -

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 takin ...

Debut Award * 1986 - Robert Graves Prize * 1986 -

Milán Füst Milán Füst (17 July 1888, Budapest – 26 July 1967, Budapest) was a Hungary, Hungarian writer, poet and playwright. Biography Early in life, his family lived on Dohány utca in the 7th district of Budapest. In 1908 he met the writer Ernő Os ...

Prize * 1990 - Book of the Year * 1992 -

Tibor Déry Tibor Déry (18 October 1894 in Budapest – 18 August 1977 in Budapest) was a Hungarian writer and poet. He also wrote under the names Tibor Dániel and Pál Verdes. György Lukács praised Dery as being "the greatest depicter of human b ...

Prize * 1993 -

Gabriel Bethlen Gabriel Bethlen (; 1580 – 15 November 1629) was Prince of Transylvania from 1613 to 1629 and Duke of Opole from 1622 to 1625. He was also King-elect of Hungary from 1620 to 1621, but he never took control of the whole kingdom. Bethlen, sup ...

Prize * 1993 -

Attila József Attila József (; 11 April 1905 – 3 December 1937) was one of the most famous Hungarian poets of the 20th century. Generally not recognized during his lifetime, József was hailed during the communist era of the 1950s as Hungary's great ...

Prize * 2006 - Award for Hungarian Art * 2008 - Writers' Union of Romania's Award for Limpopo * 2009 - Prize of the European Academy of Vienna

References

Sources

* MTI ki kicsoda 2009. Szerk. Hermann Péter. Budapest: Magyar Távirati Iroda. 2008. * Éva Blénesi: ''Szőcs Géza.'' Kalligram Kiadó, 2000 * William Totok: Minderheiten und Securitate. ''Halbjahresschrift für südosteuropäische Geschichte, Literatur und Politik'', 23. Jg., 1–2, 2011, p. 77-110.

Further information

Irodalmi Jelen

Liberté ’56 c. művéből készült filmváltozat forgatása

Levélváltás Szőcs Géza államtitkárral a Magyar Nemzeti Múzeumban lecsiszolt hun fibuláról

Szőcs Géza művei műfordításokban
– Bábel Web Antológia

– Origo, 2010. augusztus 16.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Szocs, Geza 1953 births 2020 deaths Hungarian politicians Hungarian journalists 20th-century Hungarian poets 20th-century Hungarian male writers Romanian poets Romanian male poets Members of the Senate of Romania Babeș-Bolyai University alumni Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania politicians People from Târgu Mureș Attila József Prize recipients 21st-century Hungarian poets 21st-century Hungarian male writers Hungarian male poets Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary Hungarian editors Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people