National Portrait Gallery: György Budaházy

György Budaházy was born in 1969, in Budapest. On his father side, he descended from an old noble family. He grew up in a residential area made up by apartment buildings, in Kelenföld, the district where he also attended elementary school. He continued his education in the Budai Nagy Antal High School, in Budafok and in the BMR, where he received a diploma in Mechanical Engineering.He wrote his thesis about “Alumíniumkémény csőszerkezetek T-idomainak ellenállása” (approximate translation: T-form resistance of aluminum chimneys). He received his diploma in 1992, but he has never worked in his profession. According to his own admission, this was due to the fact that he more interested in theoretical issues than practical application of things; also when finishing his degree, the Hungarian heavy industry was already on the decline; compelled by reality, he continued his studies, at the Budapest Business Academy studying business management.

After finishing his studies, he worked as an entrepreneur in the catering business. Currently, he lives in Diósd and makes a living out of trading. He got married in 1997; he is the father of three children.

He got involved in politics during the taxi-drivers’ blockade; he opposed the actions of the taxi-drivers wanting to bring down the Antall government. In 1992, he became member of the MDF, but he has never held any position in the party; in the second part of the 1990s, he practically faded out of the party. He entered into public life, in 2001 when he founded the Hungarian Revisionist Movement with his friends; they organized street protests against the Trianon Peace Treaty. He gained nation wide fame, in 2002, during the Elisabeth bridge blockade; the event made him an emblematic figure of the country. From this period on, we find him on the opposite side of official political issues; he was active in the anti-EU campaign, as well. He is known for his effort to remove the Soviet monument from the Szabadság Square and for his struggle to restore the area of the city to its original state. Since the 2006 uprising, he has been recognized as one of the leading figures of the evolving national resistance.