Born on May 7, 1964 in Sopron. He graduated from the Humanities Faculty of Eötvös Loránd University majoring in History and Latin in 1988. Subsequently he began working at the Department of the Mediaeval and Early Modern History of Hungary. In 1990 he obtained his university doctorate and in 1996 he earned his PhD. From 2001 he has been an associate professor at the university.  

In 1989 he was one of the founders of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). Between 1998 and 2000 he was the deputy chairman of the national presidium and since 2000 he has been a member of the board of the national presidium. In 2002 he became the deputy president of the Party and in 2004 he was elected as Party President.  

He has represented Pesterzsébet-Soroksár (Budapest constituency no.29.) as an individual representative since 2002. Between 2002 and 2003 he was the political secretary of state of the Ministry of Education and subsequently from 2003 through 2005 he was the Minister of Culture.  

He is married with two sons. His wife, Julianna Farkas is an associate college professor.