Wife of the late Prime Minister József Antall and founder of the Antall-József Knowledge Center, Klára Fülepp, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 88, the institution announced. The wife of the prime minister during the fall of communism never liked to be seen in public. However, she accompanied her husband on numerous official trips abroad and met with U.S. President George Bush and Pope John Paul II, among others. As she admitted in an interview, “Excessive publicity is not my thing. Weekdays pass by for me like any other retiree…”. She is mourned by two sons.
This article was originally published on our sister-site, Ungarn Heute.
Mrs. József Antall, the wife of the late Prime Minister and founder of the József Antall Knowledge Center, passed away on March 30, 2022, at the age of 88, state news agency MTI announced.
“May she rest in peace, she will never be forgotten,” a Facebook post from the Center reads.
Klára Fülepp and former Prime Minister József Antall married in 1952 in the Piarist Chapel in Budapest. They had two children: György Antall, a lawyer, and Péter Antall, a photojournalist, and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the József Antall Knowledge Center.
Péter Antall wrote on Facebook after his mother’s death, “When you are a child, you believe and hope that your parents will always be with you. Later, you know they won’t, but you hope they will. 29 years apart, I lost her tonight.” According to Telex, citing previous interviews, the late prime minister’s wife did not like to be seen in public. However, she accompanied her husband on numerous official trips abroad and met with U.S. President George Bush and Pope John Paul II, among others.
Klára Fülepp was already retired when her husband was elected as the first Prime Minister after the regime change. She revealed in an earlier interview:
“Excessive publicity is not my thing. I take my husband’s and sons’ clothes to the cleaners, and I cooked all the apricots we recently received as a gift,” admitted Fülepp.
Former president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) József Pálinkás also said goodbye to József Antall’s widow on Facebook, writing:
With a sad heart, but with peace in God’s will, I receive the sad news that the wife of József Antall, Klára Fülepp, returned her soul to her Creator today (March 30, 2022) at the age of 88.
Dear Mrs. Klára! Rest in peace! My love brings tears to my eyes!
My condolences to all family members, to her sons György and Péter, and to all family members!
She was known to few because her modesty would not have allowed her to play the role of First Lady. Those of us who knew her, know that she was a great, loving mother and wife. We are poorer for her loss.
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Featured image via the József Antall Knowledge Center’s Facebook page
