András Kulja

The native form of this personal name is Kulja András. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

András Kulja
MEP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of the European Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
16 July 2024
ConstituencyHungary
Personal details
Born
András Tivadar Kulja

(1989-09-17) 17 September 1989
Nyíregyháza, Hungary
Political partyTisza Party
Other political
affiliations		European People's Party
Alma materSemmelweis University
TikTok information
Page
Followers371 thousand
Likes5.6 million
Last updated: 2 February 2025

András Tivadar Kulja (born 17 September 1989) is a Hungarian doctor, internet personality, and politician of the Tisza Party who was elected member of the European Parliament in 2024.[1] He posts health education content to several platforms, the most popular of which is his TikTok account.[2]

Early life

András Kulja was born in Nyíregyháza on 17 September 1989.[3] His mother is a psychiatrist[4] and his father is a microbiologist.[5] His parents are from Transcarpathia.[2]

He studied medicine at Semmelweis University in Budapest. After graduating in 2016, he worked as a resident physician in psychiatry for one and a half years. While pursuing medical school and residency, he carried out research into depression.[4][6] Later, he left the field and started his training in surgery, citing a wish for a more dynamic workflow and performing manual tasks.[6] His decision was also shaped by his prior experience of assisting in veterinary surgeries with a veterinarian family member.[4] He began teaching at Semmelweis University in 2022.[4]

Aiming to share healthcare information with a wider audience, he posted his first YouTube video in 2019, and launched his TikTok account in 2021.[4] As of June 2024, he had 368,000 followers on TikTok.[2]

Political career

On 6 April 2024, Kulja attended a demonstration in Kossuth Square organized by Péter Magyar, and became committed to the Tisza Party.[7] Although he was scheduled to take his specialty exam in surgery in May, he postponed it and left his job as a surgical trainee in April, citing a desire to "speak openly and without retribution" about the situation in Hungarian healthcare, as well as an intention to focus on his political engagement.[2]

He was placed fourth on Tisza's party list for the European Parliament election.[8] On 9 June, the party won a total of seven seats, and Kulja was confirmed as a member of the European Parliament.[9] In July, he was elected a vice-chair of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.[10] Soon after his election as an MEP, he mentioned participation in health policy programs and improvement of health literacy among his aims.[11]

In June 2025, Kulja was a joint winner of the Best Newcomer Award at the MEP Awards.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ "The results of the European Parliament election". National Election Office.
  2. ^ a b c d Cseke, Balázs (8 June 2024). "Péter Magyar can make people get out of their armchairs, his MEP candidate says". Telex.hu. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  3. ^ "András Tivadar Kulja". European Parliament.
  4. ^ a b c d e Tóth, András (9 February 2024). "A TikTok András dokija: célom a videóimmal a hiteles és érthető edukáció és prevenció!". WEBBeteg (in Hungarian). Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  5. ^ Tamás, Anita (29 August 2022). "A férfi, aki bejön nekünk: dr. Kulja András, a TikTok orvosa". Marie Claire (in Hungarian). Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  6. ^ a b Hercsel, Adél (20 May 2021). "A rengeteg szenvedés közepette láttunk nem egy csodás gyógyulást". Index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  7. ^ "Kulja András: Előfordul, hogy egy kórházi osztály nem vallja be a szakemberhiányt, inkább kozmetikázza a számokat". Népszava (in Hungarian). 6 June 2024.
  8. ^ Barnóczki, Brigitta; Pál, Tamás (30 April 2024). "Leadta európai parlamenti listáját a Tisza Párt". Telex.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  9. ^ "Átvették megbízóleveleiket a magyar EP-képviselők". Magyar Hang (in Hungarian). 24 June 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Posztokat osztottak az EP-ben: a Tisza Párt örülhetett, egy fideszes képviselő „koszt takarított", miután leszavazták a Patriótákat". HVG (in Hungarian). 23 July 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  11. ^ Peseckytė, Giedrė (29 July 2024). "Meet the TikTok doc who wants to flip Hungary's view of the EU". Politico. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  12. ^ "Winners 2025". MEP Awards. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  13. ^ Shenouda, Nóra (24 June 2025). "A Tisza Pártos Kulja András az év legjobb új európai parlamenti képviselője". Euronews (in Hungarian). Retrieved 10 August 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.