György Szapáry

György Szapáry

György Szapáry in June 2011
Hungarian Ambassador to the United States
In office
January 2011 – January 2015
Preceded by Béla Szombati
Succeeded by Réka Szemerkényi
Personal details
Born (1938-08-01) August 1, 1938
Tiszabura, Hungary
Political party independent
Spouse(s) Daniéle Héléne Lucienne Winckelmans
Children Philippe
Christophe
Profession diplomat, economist
The native form of this personal name is Szapáry György. This article uses the Western name order.

György Szapáry (born 1 August 1938) is a Hungarian–Belgian economist, who served as the Hungarian Ambassador to the United States between 2011 and 2015. He was also a former Deputy Governor of the Hungarian National Bank.

Early life

He was born as Count György Béla Mária József István Szapáry de Szapár, Muraszombat et Széchy-Sziget (Hungarian: szapári, muraszombati és széchy-szigeti gróf Szapáry György Béla Mária József István)[1] into a prominent aristocrat family in Tiszabura. His parents were Count Gyula Szapáry de Szapár, Muraszombat et Széchy-Sziget and Countess Adél Etelka Hadik de Futak. One of his great-grandfathers was Gyula Szapáry, the Prime Minister of Hungary between 1890 and 1892. After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 he emigrated to Austria then Belgium. He holds a master's degree and a doctorate in economics from the Catholic University of Leuven. His academic opponent was Sándor Lámfalussy.

Career

Between 1965 and 1966, he worked for the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC). Since 1967, he worked at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C., most recently as assistant director, from 1966 to 1993. Returning home and granting Hungarian citizenship in 1990, Szapáry was senior resident representative of the International Monetary Fund in Hungary (1990–1993). Then he served as deputy governor of the Hungarian National Bank and thus a member of the Monetary Council on two occasions (1993–1999 then 2001–2007), under governors Péter Ákos Bod and Zsigmond Járai, as well as advisor to György Surányi, the Governor of the Hungarian National Bank (1999–2001).

Other positions include alternate governor for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (1994–1995); president of the Board of Directors for the International Training Centre for Bankers in Budapest (1993–2001); board member of the Budapest Commodity Exchange (1997–2001); president of the Foundation for Enterprise Promotion for the Hungarian province of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok (1995–99); member of the Economic and Financial Committee of the European Commission and of the European Central Bank’s International Relations Committee (2004–07); and member of the Hungarian Economic Social Council (2004–07).

György Szapáry has also been a member of the Advisory Council for the European Studies Foundation in Budapest since 2002, a member of the Euro 50 Group since 2001, a member of the Gyula Andrássy Foundation in Budapest since 2006, and a member of a steering group on public finances for the European Commission in Brussels.

He was appointed Hungarian Ambassador to the United States of America in early 2011. He replaced Béla Szombati in this position. Due to his appointment, the Second Orbán Government changed the law on the appointment of ambassadors by abolishing the age limit of 70 years. Szapáry was 72-year-old when Prime Minister Viktor Orbán invited him to fill the position. As a result, critics called the law as "lex Szapáry".[2] He served in that capacity until January 2015, when he was replaced by Réka Szemerkényi.

Personal life

Szapáry married biologist Daniéle Héléne Lucienne Winckelmans (born 1939 in Belgian Congo) in Hoboken, Antwerp on 21 August 1965. They have two sons and four grandchildren. The elder son Philippe Olivier (born 1967) works as a physician in Philadelphia. The younger one is Christophe Béla (born 1969) is a lawyer in New Orleans.[3]

Selected publications

Notes

  1. ↑ The Statute IV of 1947, which is still in force in Hungary, declares the abolition of hereditary noble ranks and related styles and titles, also putting a ban on their use.
  2. ↑ "Lex Szapáry– újabb személyre szabott törvény". 19 November 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  3. ↑ Marek, Miroslav. "Szapáry family tree". Genealogy.EU.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Béla Szombati		 Hungarian Ambassador to the United States
2011–2015 		Succeeded by
Réka Szemerkényi
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