János Kis (born 17 September 1943) is a Hungarian

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, who served as the inaugural leader of the liberal

Alliance of Free Democrats 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 ...

(SZDSZ) from 1990 to 1991. He is considered to be the first Leader Hungarian parliamentary opposition.

Biography

Kis was born 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 ...

, Hungary. His father was killed in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. He graduated with a degree in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

from the

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...

in 1967. Kis was inspired by the ideas of

György Lukács György Lukács (born Bernát György Löwinger; ; ; 13 April 1885 – 4 June 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher, literary historian, literary critic, and Aesthetics, aesthetician. He was one of the founders of Western Marxism, an inter ...

and György Márkus, and became marxist in the 1960s. He joined the

Hungarian Communist Party The Hungarian Communist Party (, , abbr. MKP), known earlier as the Party of Communists in Hungary (, , abbr. KMP), was a communist party in Hungary that existed during the interwar period and briefly after World War II. It was founded on Novem ...

(MSZMP) too. In 1973 he was dismissed as a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy at the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...

after co-authoring a book criticizing

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

socialism from leftist point of view. He was excluded from the MSZMP as well. On radical leftist and human-rights-liberal basis, he strongly opposed the communist regime in Hungary, he helped to create the first opposition journal '' Beszélő'' which was first issued in December 1981. He was the Editor-in-Chief of this underground journal until the democratization of the country in 1989. He was also member of the democratic opposition party

(SzDSz). From 1988 to 1989 he was visiting professor at the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

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 ...

. After the fall of communism in 1989–1990, the SzDSz entered the democratic Parliament and Kis was elected as the party leader on 23 February 1990. He remained in this office until 23 November 1991, when he left active politics and returned to an academic career. However, he remained in the SzDSz. He welcomed the coalition of the SzDSz with the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) In 1992, he became a professor at the

Central European University Central European University (CEU; , ) is a private research university in Vienna. The university offers graduate and undergraduate programs in the social sciences and humanities, which are accredited in Austria and the United States. The univ ...

. Since 1996, he has also been a visiting professor at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He left the SzDSz in 2002, when the socialist prime minister, Péter Medgyessy proved to be a former officer of the communist secret service (officer D-209). Kis has written numerous articles and books on political science, such as ''Politics as a Moral Problem''. Despite having left the political arena years ago, he continues to take controversial positions on several issues.

Sources

Biography at the New York University Website
* Gale Stokes, ''The Walls Came Tumbling Down'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 88–89. * Kis János- Hungarian Wikipedia-article: :hu:Kis János

External links

Janos Kis and Gyorgy Bence, “On Being A Marxist: A Hungarian View” (1977)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kis, Janos 1943 births Living people 20th-century Hungarian philosophers Journalists from Budapest Jewish Hungarian politicians Alliance of Free Democrats politicians Academic staff of Central European University Politicians from Budapest 21st-century Hungarian philosophers