Engineer, economist and politician. During the '56 Revolution, he was on the Revolutionary Students Committee of Budapest Technical University and on the board of MEFESZ (the Union of Hungarian University and College Students. Arrested in January 1957, he was released again after two months on remand. He worked in various state-owned enterprises in 1957–85 and then chaired the Engineers and Construction Mechanics Small Cooperative until 1990. Meanwhile he joined the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) in 1988, in which he was a leading figure, serving as a member of Parliament from 1990 to 1998. From December 1991 to February 1993 he was minister of industry, trade and tourism and then finance minister until 1994. He resigned from the MDF in 1996 to become a founder member and first president of the Hungarian Democratic People's Party (MDNP), of which he became permanent honorary president in 1998.