Rev László TŐKÉS,
ethnic-Hungarian ecclesiastic from Romania

Date and Place of Birth: 1 April 1952; Cluj/Kolozsvár, Romania
 
Marital Status: married to Edith Joó; father of two sons and a daughter
 
Education: 1971–1975 Protestant Theological Institute, Cluj/Kolozsvár, Romania
 
Life History:

• Assistant Minister in the Reformed Church, at Braşov/Brassó, then at Dej/Dés (1975-1984);
• Discharged for political reasons and illegally dismissed from ministry in 1984;
• Appointed Assistant Minister at Timişoara/Temesvár in 1986, later elected pastor of that congregation;
• Suffered continuous harassment throughout 1988/1989 due to the opposition he expressed to the plight of the church and systematic destruction of villages in Romania;
• Taken to court by the Reformed Church and the state authorities in 1989, with the aim of depriving him of his pulpit, and exiling him to the village of Mineu/Menyő;
• Reformed Christians gathered outside his manse to prevent his forcible eviction and were joined by other people of Timişoara on 15 December 1989; these demonstrations sparked the Romanian Revolution.
• Briefly a member of the Temporary Government of Romania, National Salvation Front (1990);
• Elected Bishop of Királyhágómellék Reformed Church District, Oradea/Nagyvárad (1990-2009);
• Co-President of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Romania (1990-2009);
• Elected Honorary President of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (1990-2004);
• President of the Hungarian Reformed World Federation (1996-);
• Honorary President of Hungarian World Federation (1996-);
• Founder and Board President of the Partium Christian University (1999-);
• President of Hungarian National Council of Transylvania (2003-);
• Member of the European Parliament (2007-).

Awards and Memberships :

• Berzsenyi Prize (1989)
• Bethlen Gábor Prize (1990)
• Nominee for Nobel Prize (1990)
• Roosevelt Prize (The Netherlands, 1990)
• Doctor honoris causa of Regent University (Virginia Beach, USA, 1990)
• Doctor honoris causa of the Theological Academy of Debrecen (Hungary, 1990)
• Doctor honoris causa of Hope College (Michigan, USA, 1991)
• Geuzenpenning Award (The Netherlands, 1991)
• Pro Fide Prize (Finland, 1993)
• Bocskay Prize (Hungary, 1995)
• Member of the European Senate of Honour (1992-);
• Member of Johannit Order of Knighthood (1993-)
• Hungarian Heritage Prize (Hungary, 1996)
• Minority Prize of Catalan CIEMEN-Center (Barcelona, Spain, 1996)
• Leopold Kunschak Prize (Austria, 1997)
• Fidelity Prize (Hungary, 1999)
• Grand Cross of the Republic of Hungary (1999)
• Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom (Washington, USA, 2009)
• Petőfi Prize (Hungary, 2009)
• Bocskai István Prize (Debrecen, Hungary, 2009)
• Robert Schuman Medal of the Group of the European Perople’s Party int he European Parliament (Strasbourg, 2009)
• The Order of the Star of Romania – Knight Rank (2009)
• Freeman of Sárospatak, Lenti, Székelyudvarhely, Mihályfalva, 5th and 11th districts of Budapest

Highlights of political activity:

• Outspoken critics of Ceausescu’s systematic destruction of villages in Transylvania, Romania (from 1988)
• His speech was sent and delivered at the occasion of demolishing the Iron Curtain on the border between Austria and Hungary (August 1989)
• Hans Dietrich Genscher visited Pastor Tőkés in Timisoara/Temesvár (January 1990)
• Meeting with President George Bush in the White House (March 1990)
• Meeting with Brian Mulroney, President of Canada (1990)
• Meeting with Premier József Antall (1990)
• Meeting with Tom Lantos, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Congress (1990)
• Meeting with Pope John Paul II. in the Vatican (1991)
• Meeting with former US President Jimmy Carter (1991)
• Meeting with Otto von Habsburg (1991)
• Meeting with State President Emil Constantinescu (1996)
• Meeting with Lech Walesa (1998)
• Meeting with Premier Viktor Orbán (1998)
• Meeting with Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (1998)
• Meeting with State President Ferenc Mádl (2000)
• Meeting with Cardinal Józef Glemp (2001)
• Meeting with State President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Premier Jerzy Buzek (2001)
• Meeting with State President László Sólyom (2006)
• Meeting with State President Traian Băsescu (2008)

• Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, There Is Liberty (1990)
• The Siege of Timişoara '89 (1990)
• With God, for the People (1990) English original, Hungarian, Dutch, Norwegian, German, Finnish and French translations (1991-1993)
• There is a Time to Speak (1993)
• What's behind a Statement (1993) English and Hungarian version
• In the Spirit of Timişoara – Oecumenica and Reconciliation (1996) Hungarian Romanian and English version
• Memento of Timisoara (1999)
• Hopes and Reality – sermons, articles in ecclesiastic and secular publications (2002)