Viktor Orban turns 61: Soccer superfan and conservative leader
"Never ask him for anything when he's hungry; if his favorite soccer team loses, handle him very gently," says Viktor Orban's wife, Aniko Levai. On May 31, 2024, the Hungarian politician turned 61.
12:22 PM EDT, May 31, 2024
Viktor Orban is a Hungarian politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister since 2010. He has been a member of the National Assembly for nine consecutive terms since 1990 and is also the chairman of Fidesz, a national conservative and moderately eurosceptic party.
In 2004, he received the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, and in 2013, "Gazeta Polska" awarded him the title of Person of the Year.
The conservative politician, who has governed Budapest without interruption for 14 years, strongly criticizes the European Union's and NATO's stance toward Ukraine. He promotes his campaign for the European elections with the slogan: no migration, no gender, no war. At the same time, he announces a fight against Brussels bureaucrats.
Privately, he is an avid soccer fan. He plays soccer, was a member of the Felcsút FC team, and in 2007, he founded the Ferenc Puskás Soccer Academy.
Orban's wife: never ask him for anything when he's hungry
Viktor Orban married lawyer Aniko Levai. For years, he was an unbeliever, and it wasn't until 10 years after their civil wedding, in 1999, that they decided on a church wedding. His wife is Catholic, and he is a follower of Calvinism, one of the main branches of Protestantism.
"My husband, when he is home, is a gentle person who avoids conflicts at all costs," his wife told the weekly "Story Magazin" a few years ago.
Although trained as a lawyer, Levai takes care of the household on a daily basis. As she claims, she never gets involved in political matters.
"I prepare my husband's suit, shirt, and tie every day for the next day. Sometimes, for example, several sets in one day during a campaign," she said in 2014, quoted by "The Wall Street Journal."
She admitted that she knows how to gauge her husband's mood perfectly. In the pages of "Story Magazin," she even presented a "manual" for Viktor Orban. There are a few rules that she always tries to follow. "Never ask him for anything when he's hungry; never dare disturb him when he's playing the popular Hungarian card game 'ulti'; if his favorite soccer team loses, handle him very gently," she listed.
She also has a way to quickly wake her husband: "If he doesn't want to get up in the morning, tell him that the latest issue of the 'National Sport' newspaper has arrived, and he'll open his eyes immediately."
She also admitted that losing is very difficult for him. To prove her point, she shared a particular story.
"He learned to ski as an adult only for the sake of his daughters. Once, when I won a skiing competition and he came in second, he arranged for the winners to be recognized in different categories so that he wouldn't be in second place right behind me," Levai said.
Father of five children
Viktor Orban and Aniko Levai have five children (four daughters and a son). Their son, Gaspar Orban, is a former soccer player and belongs to Christian communities. According to him, he found God during a mission trip to Uganda.
Orban's eldest daughter is Rahel. In 2013, she married Istvan Tiborcz, a Hungarian businessman and investor in the tourism industry. Their daughter was born in 2016, making Orban a grandfather.
The other daughters are Sara, born in 1994; Roza, born in 2000; and Flora, born in 2004.
