Hungarian Roots: Former Three-Term Governor Of New York, George Pataki

By Robert Velkey // 2016.07.08.

In our weekly series, we write about celebrities – artists, actors, musicians, sport stars and scientists – who have some Hungarian origin, yet only few would consider them as “par excellence Hungarians”. In many cases even the persons concerned know/knew only very little about their Hungarian roots, while others are/were proud of their “Magyar” background despite lacking the ability to speak the language of their parents or grandparents. Our twenty-third target is:

George Elmer Pataki served as the 53^rd Governor of New York (1995-2006) as a member of the Republican Party. The former governor has deep Hungarian roots, as both his paternal grandfather and grandmother were from Austria-Hungary.

Pataki was born on the 24^th of June 1945, in Peekskill, New York. His Hungarian roots are starts deeply by his grandparents who were Hungarian immigrants to the USA. His paternal grandfather was János (later John) Pataki (1883-1970) of Aranyos-Apáti from Austria-Hungary, who came to the United States in 1908 and worked in a hat factory. János had married Erzsébet (later Elisabeth; 1887-1975), also Hungarian born around 1904. Pataki’s father was Louis P. Pataki, worked as a mailman and volunteer fire chief who ran the Pataki Farm. On the former governor’s website we can read: “Pataki grew up in upstate New York working on the family farm where he learned the power of discipline, community, and hard work.”

From the family farm, his way led him to Yale University, where he served as chairman of Conservative Party of the Yale Political Union. After graduating from Columbia Law School, Pataki practiced law, and was later elected mayor of Peekskill. From there, his public service continued and he went to serve as State Assemblyman, State Senator, and three terms as New York State’s 53^rd Governor. He started his presidential campaign on the 28^th of May 2015 on a Republican ticket to become the President of the United States in the 2016 election but on at the end of the year 2015 Pataki told his supporters that his campaign was henceforth suspended. He is currently Counsel with the law firm Chadbourne and Parke LLC, and president of his own small business, the Pataki-Cahill Group, working in energy infrastructure and clean-tech.

The former governor and his family are conscious of their Hungarian heritage, being supporters and ambassadors of the ReConnect Hungarian Birthright Program. George Pataki can still speak a little Hungarian today, also.