László Kapolyi 1932 –2014

The Socialist International was deeply saddened to hear of the loss of László Kapolyi, former President of the Hungarian Social Democratic Party, MSzDP, who passed away on 28 November.

László Kapolyi undertook engineering and sciences in his early career, acheiving his doctoral thesis, and going on to become a member of the Energy Commission, winning several major awards in the field, and working in other high-level posts including State Secretary responsible for mining and energy. He was inaugrated honorary professor at Eötvös Loránd University in 1980, and took the role of energy secretary in the Ministry of Industry between 1981 and 1983.

In the late 1980s Kapolyi joined the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party and he became an independent parliamentary candidate in 1990. He became a member of the Hungarian Social Democratic Party, MSzDP, in 1991, a member of the party presidency in 1993 and was elected president of the party in 1994. He remained the party Chairman until 2012. The party coaltion between the MSZDP and the MSZP in 2002 saw Kapolyi elected to parliament. The party retained seats until 2010. After stepping down in 2012, Kapolyi was later re-elected and the party ran in the 2014 general election in Hungary.

László Kapolyi participated in many meetings and activities of the Socialist International and his contributions were highly valued. He will be deeply missed by members of our International worldwide, and will be long remembered.