Lajos Göncz

Lajos Göncz started his sports career in 1907. Besides competitions, he was also active in the development of Hungarian tennis. In 1912 he became an officer of the MAC tennis division. Like his father, he worked for the Hungarian Royal Mail, although his father later became Hungary’s Deputy Secretary of State. During World War I Lajos Göncz served with the field mail service. In 1924, he was second in the Budapest Championship behind Béla Kehrling and played at the Paris Olympics.

In 1927, Göncz retired from active sports and turned to tennis training and promotion. He opened a tennis school on Margaret Island. He later worked as a lecturer at the College of Physical Education. Lajos Göncz married Ilona Heimann, but they divorced in 1928. Their son, Árpád Göncz, became a politician and was President of Hungary from 1990-2000, although the son and father were never close after the divorce. Lajos’s granddaughter, Kinga Göncz, served as secretary of foreign affairs in Hungary.