1. How would you describe your political style in three words?
Persevering, consequent and cooperative.
2. Which person that you have worked with has most inspired you in your career, and how?
My paternal grandmother. At a time when no one had even heard of integrated classrooms, in which deaf and hearing pupils could learn together, she was the one who helped me every day after school. Her patience and resilience made it possible for me to keep up with my hearing classmates, in spite of my deafness. She didn’t just teach me school material - she also taught me wisdom, dignity and the courage to fight.
There is one more person who was of great help to me at the beginning of my political career - Miklós Soltész, Hungarian Secretary of State, who was a role model for me and inspired me with his work and his humanity.
3. Is there anything you have personally achieved or done that would surprise people?
Scuba-diving with a great white shark.
4. What is the one piece of technology you could not live without and why?
Text messages. And today also chat and videophone. Alexander Graham Bell’s mother and wife were both deaf. He experimented in their interest, looking to improve sound transmitting, when he invented the telephone. However, the telephone became a barrier for decades, between those who could hear and those who were deaf, because those with hearing impairments were unable to use the telephone. But now, that barrier is a thing of the past. With the help of smartphones and tablets connected to the internet, we are able to communicate with each other and with our hearing friends without any problems, thanks to instant messaging or via videophones.
5. What was the most inspirational and influential book you have read and why?
I can think of three books. ‘The pillars of Earth’ by Ken Follett. Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel, ‘The bridge of San Luis Rey’, which is a real page-turner.
And lastly, ‘Embers’, a novel by Hungarian writer Sándor Márai. Its original title in Hungarian is, ‘A gyertyák csonkig égnek’, which means, ‘Candles burn to the end’. It tells the story of one long night, during which two old men who used to be close friends meet and talk until dawn. All these books work like glue - once you start reading them, you won’t be able to get your hands off them until the very last page.
Adám Kósa (EPP, HU) is a member of Parliament's employment and social affairs committee
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