Hungary's first post-communist president Arpad Goncz dies at 93

Reuters
Former Hungarian President Arpad Goncz waves from his balcony as hundreds of people greet him on his 90th birthday in Budapest, February 10, 2012. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Former Hungarian President Arpad Goncz, jailed after the failed 1956 uprising against Soviet rule, died on Tuesday aged 93 after what he had called a somewhat "grotesque and surreal" life of constant new beginnings. Hungary's most popular politician to date, he filled the largely ceremonial role for two terms from 1990 to 2000 as the central European country shifted to a market economy and charted a path into NATO and the European Union. He died surrounded by members of his family, national news agency MTI reported, citing the head of Goncz's secretariat. (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Krisztina Than; Editing by Janet Lawrence)