Dávid Vitézy | |
|---|---|
 Vitézy in 2021 | |
| Secretary of State for Transport | |
| In office 25 May 2022 – 21 November 2022 | |
| Minister | László Palkovics |
| Preceded by | László Mosóczi |
| Succeeded by | Bálint Nagy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 December 1985 Budapest, Hungary |
| Political party | Independent |
| Alma mater | Budapest University of Technology and Economics |
| Profession | Economist, traffic expert |
Dávid Vitézy (born 1 December 1985) is a Hungarian economist, transport and urban mobility expert, politician, who served as Secretary of State for Transport in the Fifth Orbán Government for a brief time from May to November 2022. He is a candidate for Mayor of Budapest in the 2024 Budapest mayoral election.
He was a prominent member of the NGO Urban and Suburban Transport Association (VEKE) from 2000 to 2010. He inaugural CEO of Centre for Budapest Transport (BKK) between 2010 and 2014. He was ministerial commissioner overseeing the development of public transport, especially the coordination of regional and long-distance relations within the Ministry of National Development for some months in 2015. He served as director of the Hungarian Technical and Transport Museum from 2016 to 2022. Simultaneously, he was CEO of Budapest Development Center (BFK) from 2020 to 2022.
Family and studies
Vitézy was born in Budapest on 1 December 1985, as the son of film director László Vitézy (1940–2024) and his third wife, social psychologist and MEP Ágnes Hankiss (née Erdős; 1950–2021). His maternal grandfather was Péter Erdős (1925–1990), the controller of pop music life during the Goulash Communism, and maternal grandmother was Erzsébet Köves, secretary of 1956 martyr Géza Losonczy. The first husband of his mother was sociologist Elemér Hankiss (1928–2015).[1] His paternal uncles are entrepreneurs András Vitézy and Tamás Vitézy. The latter's daughter is Rita (Dávid's cousin), spouse of actor and theater director Rodrigo Crespo (born 1973).[2] One of Dávid's half-siblings is Zsófia Vitézy, the Hungarian Ambassador to Columbia since 2022. She is maternal cousin of Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary. That is why, contrary to the assumptions, Dávid Vitézy is not related by blood to Orbán.[3]
Vitézy graduated from Lauder Javne Jewish Community School in 2004. He graduated in economics from the Faculty of Economics of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), majoring in regional settlement and territorial development, in 2010.[4][5]
Professional career
Early career
At the age of 15 in 2000, Vitézy was a founding member of the Urban and Suburban Transport Association (VEKE), an NGO with the aim of improving public transport in Hungarian cities and representing the interests of passengers. He was a board member of the organization from 2002, then head of the association's transport development working group until 2010. Beside that, he functioned as spokesperson of the VEKE from 2006 to 2010. He had a prominent role in the fact that the night transport of Budapest was completely transformed and significantly expanded in 2005 with the introduction of the 900 number series night bus services.[6][7]
The opposition party Fidesz delegated Vitézy as a member of the Supervisory Board of the Budapesti Közlekedési Zrt. (BKV), serving in this capacity from January 2007 to December 2009. As a member of the committee, he was the initiator of several internal investigations that led to the outbreak of later corruption scandals involving the city governance of Budapest under Mayor Gábor Demszky.[8] During his activities, he was attacked several times, according to which he acts according to party political interests,[9] however, VEKE supported his efforts in this regard.[10] Vitézy left the organization in 2010, following the 2010 Budapest Assembly election, when Fidesz candidate István Tarlós was elected as mayor.
References
- ^ "Portré Vitézy Dávid VEKE-szóvivőről". Archived from the original on 2009-04-04. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
- ^ "Crespo Rodrigo a tatabányai színház új igazgatója". Index.hu. 2010-10-28.
- ^ "Kolumbiában lett nagykövet Orbán Viktor unokatestvére". HVG.hu. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
- ^ "Bp top 100 - A BKV rémálma". Főváros Blog. Archived from the original on 2010-10-24. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
- ^ "Lauder Javne Iskola - Főoldal". lauder.hu. 2011-02-24. Archived from the original on 2011-02-20.
- ^ "Eddig miért nem ilyen volt éjjel a közlekedés?". index.hu (in Hungarian). September 4, 2005.
- ^ "Index: a legnagyobb civil siker Sólyom után az új éjszakai közlekedés". VEKE (in Hungarian). September 6, 2005.
- ^ "Vitézy Dávid: a BKV minden területét átjárta a politikai korrupció" (in Hungarian). Mandiner. 2010-04-19.
- ^ "Vitézy Dávid javára helyreigazít a Népszava" (in Hungarian). Mandiner. 2010-03-18.
- ^ "VEKE: a támadásokat nem hagyjuk - hasznos volt Vitézy Dávid FB-tagsága" (in Hungarian). VEKE. 2010-02-11.