Personal data
Date and place of birth: September 8, 1951, Târgu Secuiesc
Marital status: married, wife Mrs. Kós Anna
Children: 3, Bálint (1975), Eszter (1978), Balázs (2000)
Professional activity
1974–1976: General School Sântana de Mureş, teacher
1976–1989: Literary Magazine Igaz Szó, Târgu Mureş, editor
1989–2005: Literary Magazine Látó, Târgu Mureş, chief editor
Studies
1958–1970: High school from Târgu Secuiesc, graduation
1970–1974: Babeş–Bolyai University, Cluj, Faculty of Arts, Hungarian-French section, teacher
Political activity
1989: founder of DAHR from Mureş county
1989–1990: Vice President of DAHR Mureş
1990–1991: member of the DAHR Presidency
1990–present: senator of Mureş, realeted in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004, 2008
1990–1992: member of the Committee for Culture and Education from the Senate, member of the IPU Parliamentary Delegation
1992–1996: member of the Committees for Foreign Policy and for Education from the Senate
1991–1992: President of the Parliamentary Group of DAHR from the Senate
1993– 2011: President of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, realected in 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007
2004–2007: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State in charge of culture, education and research and European integration.
2008–2009: President of the Parliamentary Group of DAHR from the Senate
2009 December – present: Deputy Prime Minister of the Romanian Government
Membership in professional organizations
Since 1978: member of the Writers' Union from Romania
Since 1990: member of the Writers' Union from Hungary
1990–1996: secretary of the local branch from Târgu Mureş of the Writers' Union from Romania
1990–2000: general secretary of the Hungarian Group of PEN from Romania
Scientific and literary activity
Numerous volumes of poems, essays, textbooks, political and public editions in Hungarian.
Works translated in other languages
Despre natura metaforelor (Poems in Romanian). Transl. and pref. by Paul Drumaru. Kriterion Publisher, Bucharest, Biblioteca Kriterion, 1989.
Timp canibal (Poems in Romanian). Transl. by Paul Drumaru, Komp-Press Publisher, Cluj, 1997.
Notes on a happy pear tree (Poems in English). Transl. by Sylvia Csiffary. Pont Publisher, Budapest, 1999.
Comme un échiquier fermé (Poems in French). Počmes trad. par Lorand Gaspar et Sarah Clair postf. et choix établi par János Lackfi. Éditions Ibolya Virág, Paris, 2000.
Condamnaţi la reconciliere (Interviews in Romanian). Transl. by Paul Drumaru, Curtea Veche Publisher, 2006.
Transylvania. Political alternatives, cultural alternatives (Presentation in Hungarian, Romanian, German, English and French). Communitas Foundation, Cluj, 2008.
A kert erotikája/Erotica grădinii (Sonnets in Hungarian and in Romanian). Transl. by Paul Drumaru, Curtea Veche Publisher, Bucharest, 2010.
Awards
Writers' Association from Târgu Mureş Award – 1974, 1982
Writers' Union from Romania Award – 1980
Füst Milán Award – 1990
Déry Tibor Award – 1991
József Attila Award – 1994
Bethlen Gábor Award – 1996
The Hungarian Grand Cross of the Order of Merit – 2004
Order of the Star of Romania, Knight – 2004
Irodalmi Jelen Award for poetry – 2010
Szabad Sajtó Award – 2011
Magyar Szabadságért Award – 2011
Foreign languages
French – advanced
English – elementary
Russian – elementary
