Felvidék.ma
reports that Miklós Duray, a Hungarian politician from Felvidék, public writer, university professor, and since János Esterházy, the most important figure in the Hungarian community and political life in Felvidék, has died .
Miklós Duray was born on July 18, 1945 in Losonc. As he often mentioned himself, he is a true "European derivative": he comes from three different roots on his father's side. The Duray branch of the family is of French Huguenot descent. The female branch is partially derived from Welser German nobility (Welser Philiphine was the wife of Archduke Ferdinand II of Habsburg) and Wertheimer from German-Jewish roots (Samuel Wertheimer was the rabbi of Hungary).
Two roots can be traced on the maternal branch. One is German. At the end of the 18th century, they settled in Nógrád County as master glassblowers. The other branch is Slovak. The maternal grandfather moved from Túróc County to Nógrád as a professional locksmith who won numerous awards at the Budapest industrial fairs.
His wife, the mathematician and computer scientist dr. Zsuzsanna Szabó was also born in 1945, in Léva. They were married since 1973, until Ms. Zsuzsanna's death in 2018. Their only son, Bálint Áron, was born in 1989 in Indiana, Pennsylvania (USA).
Anyone who knew him knows that it is no exaggeration to say that he was the type of person who lived at least two things in one day. You could rarely find him at home, and never idle. His acquaintances, and those whom he honored with his friendship, could count on the phone calls coming at sometimes quite impossible times, which always meant an exciting and instructive conversation, starting from tough current politics through national politics and national strategy to the good and bad things of the world. He spoke, wrote, taught, changed the system, he was at the forefront when it could be life-threatening, but he could also retreat into the background if the interest of the community required him to do so.
In moments of grief and pain, it is difficult to describe anything, and a complete summary of such a huge life journey is completely impossible. In the following, we point out only in points, filled with pain, who was the "pillar" that fell from under Felvidék today...
We will preserve his memory forever, and we will nurture and carry on his spiritual legacy as best we can:
Staff of the Association for Common Goals and Felvidék.ma
Source: aelvidek.ma
2022 plus:
Miklós Duray was the guest of the Miskolc Club of the Civil Unity Forum in 2021. The interview with him is Együtt! Stronger! was titled
In this year, he received one of the most important awards of the Hungarians in the highlands, the Pro Probitate award. In one of the interviews conducted on this occasion, he summarizes as follows:
"I think the future of our community will be influenced by three factors. A lot depends on what happens to our young people, whether they go abroad or stay. From this point of view, unfortunately, Hungary can also be considered a foreign country. We receive enormous financial help from Hungary, but this alone is not enough. We also need a perspective, but we are not doing well with this, the situation is getting worse as we go east. The other is that Budapest must maneuver in the Visegrad cooperation, which I think is extremely important, without sacrificing the interests of Hungarians here, this is an extremely difficult task. In the end, a lot will also depend on whether we can normalize and unify our political public life in the near future. Social public life does not have to be uniform, it is enough if it is cooperative, but political life is. Without it, it is feared, there is no Hungarian survival in the Highlands".
Miklós Duray was 77 years old. Rest in peace!
