A popular news website in Hungary has hailed former New York Gov. George Pataki as a "par excellence Hungarian" very much in touch with his illustrious Eastern European roots.
Hungary Today reports Pataki, who was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination last year, closely associates with his "deep" Hungarian roots and can even speak in the Hungarian tongue.
His paternal grandfather János Pataki emigrated to the U.S. in 1908, worked in a hat factory, and married Erzsébet, also Hungarian.
Their grandson George, who was born in Peekskill, "grew up in upstate New York working on the family farm where he learned the power of discipline, community, and hard work,"
the website reports.
The website also says Pataki is a supporter of
"ReConnect Hungary," a Hungarian birthright program on which his daughter, novelist Allison Pataki, serves as ambassador.
"I felt my heritage when I looked at the pictures of my immigrant ancestors, heard the foreign words my relatives would mutter, and saw pictures of the rural place from where the Patakis originally came," Allison said.
"My Hungarian heritage is something I'm incredibly proud of, and something I wish to explore even further."
Other noted Hungarians and Hungarian-Americans include: Jamie Lee Curtis, Mariska Hargitay, Bela Lugosi, Elie Wiesel, Joseph Pulitzer; Joe Namath, John Kerry, and Jesse Ventura.
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