He was born to ethnic Hungarian parents in Târgu Mureș, and is a member of the Reformed Church. His father Károly (known in Romanian as "Carol") was a member of the resistance movement in opposition to the Communist regime: in 1956, he joined Ioan Faliboga and other young people in organizing clandestine committees that took inspiration from the Hungarian Revolution. He was arrested in January 1958, and sentenced to 12 years in prison, but was set free by the general amnesty of 1964.