György Szepesi

The native form of this personal name is Szepesi György. This article uses the Western name order.
György Szepesi

Szepesi (left) interviewing bantamweight boxing champion Tibor Csík, 1949
Born György Friedländer
(1922-02-05) February 5, 1922
Budapest, Hungary
Nationality Hungarian
Alma mater University of Physical Education, Budapest
Occupation Radio personality, journalist, and sports executive
Religion Jewish

György Szepesi (born February 5, 1922) is a Hungarian radio personality, journalist and sports executive.[1][2][3]

Early life

Szepesi was born György Friedländer into a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary.[1][4] His father, Miklós Friedländer, died in the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945.[4] Szepesi himself was forced into a labor battalion in Ukraine, which was disbanded in October 1944.[4] Szepesi then returned to Budapest and lived with Gábor Kocsis, a fellow battalion survivor, Kocsis' wife, and their four children, until mid-January 1945, when the German troops retreated from Hungary.[5]

Szepesi received his doctorate in sports history from the University of Physical Education in Budapest.[1] He played basketball for Hungary’s Vác-Újbuda LTC until the Fascists disbanded the club in 1942.[1]

Career

Szepesi has been on Hungarian radio since April 1945.[1][2][6][7][8] He has covered Olympic Games since 1948, and the Football World Cup since 1954.[1]

Szepesi was a Hungarian Olympic Committee member from 1962 to 2000, and was the Executive Committee Chairman for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) from 1982 to 1994.[1] He was Chairman of the Hungarian Football Association (HFA) from 1978 to 1986.[1] He is honorary chairman of the HFA, and an honorary member of FIFA’s Executive Committee.[1]

Honors

Szepesi received the FIFA Medal in 1994, and the Olympic Order from the International Olympic Committee in 1995.[1][3] He received the Pillar of Achievement Award from the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.[1][2][6]

In 2004, Szepesi was given the Prima Primissa Award in the Hungarian Electronic Press category.[9] In 2005, Szepesi became an honorary citizen of Budapest.[10] That same year, he was decorated with the Middle Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Dr. Gyorgy Szepesi". Jewishsports.net. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Tom Tugend (December 1, 1997). "Paralympic volleyball star made Hall-of-Famer". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Records". Guinness World Records. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Szegedkurir – Szepesi György: Csak apám életét nem tudtam megmenteni". Szegedkurir.hu. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Felavatták a zsidó munkaszolgálatosok emlékművét" (in Hungarian). zsido.hu. 18 April 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  6. 1 2 Scheinberg, Robert (December 2, 1997). "Nine voted to Jewish sports hall". JTA. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  7. ↑ Andrei S. Markovits (February 18, 2009). "From the Stands". The Vienna Review. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  8. ↑ John Cunningham (2004). Hungarian cinema: from coffee house to multiplex. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  9. ↑ "2004-es Prima Primissima díjazottai" (in Hungarian). primissima.hu. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  10. ↑ "Szepesi György Budapest díszpolgára lesz" (in Hungarian). Origo. 23 September 2005. Retrieved 11 November 2011.

External links

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