Michel Varga (born Balázs Nagy; June 23, 1927 – August 23, 2015) was a Hungarian and French

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

activist. Varga was active in the

Union of Working Youth Union of Working Youth (, DISZ) was a mass youth organization in Hungary. All Hungarian youth between 14 and 26 years were allowed to become members. As of 1956, DISZ had 14 000 local organizations and a total membership of around 800 000. During i ...

, student organisation of the

Hungarian Working People's Party The Hungarian Working People's Party (, , abbr. MDP) was the ruling communist party of Hungary from 1948 to 1956. It was formed by a merger of the Hungarian Communist Party (MKP) and the Social Democratic Party of Hungary (MSZDP).Neubauer, Joh ...

, within which he was regarded as an intellectual. He was part of a group which in 1954 founded the Petofi discussion group, in opposition to

Mátyás Rákosi Mátyás Rákosi (; born Mátyás Rosenfeld; 9 March 1892 – 5 February 1971) was a Hungarian communism, communist politician who was the ''de facto'' leader of Hungary from 1947 to 1956. He served first as General Secretary of the Hungarian ...

. When it was revived in 1956, he became Deputy Secretary of its Provisional Bureau. The group, while influential, attempted to quell the Hungarian Revolution, fearing a violent backlash.The Hungarian Revolution 1956 - Part 1
", ''

Permanent Revolution Permanent revolution is the strategy of a revolutionary class pursuing its own interests independently and without compromise or alliance with opposing sections of society. As a term within Marxist theory, it was first coined by Karl Marx and ...

'', October 2006 Following the defeat of the revolution, Varga escaped to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, then settled in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where, following discussions with

Pierre Broué Pierre Broué (8 May 1926 – 26 July 2005) was a French historian and Trotskyist revolutionary militant whose work covers the history of the Bolshevik Party, the Spanish Revolution and biographies of Leon Trotsky. Background Broué was born ...

, he became a Trotskyist and founded the League of Revolutionary Socialists of Hungary with other exiles.The Present Day Relevance of the Transitional Programme
''

Revolutionary History ''Revolutionary History'' was a British journal covering the history of the far left. It was established by the historians Sam Bornstein and Al Richardson and maintained an editorial board representing many strands of British Trotskyism. In a ...

'' Vol.3 No.1Robert Jackson Alexander, ''International Trotskyism, 1929-1985'' He joined the

Internationalist Communist Organisation The Internationalist Communist Organisation (, OCI) was a Trotskyist political party in France. Its successor was the Internationalist Communist Current of the Workers Party (France), Workers Party. History Origins The group's origins lay in the ...

(OCI) in 1962, and in 1963 his league affiliated to the

International Committee of the Fourth International The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) is a public faction of the Fourth International founded in 1953. Today, two Trotskyist List of Trotskyist internationals, internationals claim to be the continuations of the ICFI; o ...

(ICFI). In 1972, the OCI decided to leave the ICFI and instead set up the Organising Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International. Varga initially sided with the OCI, but soon after came into conflict with them and was expelled. The following year, he founded the International League for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International. The OCI claimed that he had been both a CIA and a KGB agent, but an international committee consisting of representatives from

Lutte Ouvrière Lutte Ouvrière (, ) is a Trotskyist communist party in France, named after its weekly paper. Arlette Laguiller was the party's spokeswoman from 1973 to 2008 and ran in each presidential election until 2012, when Nathalie Arthaud was the candi ...

, the

Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire The Revolutionary Communist League (; LCR) was a Trotskyism, Trotskyist political party in France. It was the French section of the Fourth International (post-reunification). It published the weekly newspaper ''Rouge'' and the journal ''Critique ...

, the

Socialist Workers Party (US) The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is a communist party in the United States. The SWP began as a group which, because it supported Leon Trotsky over Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, was expelled from the Communist Party USA. Since the 1930s, it h ...

and the

International Spartacist Tendency The International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist) abbreviated as ICL(FI), earlier known as the international Spartacist tendency (iSt), is a Trotskyist international. Its largest constituent party is the Spartacist League (US). Ther ...

found no proof of this. In 1984, Varga was expelled by an opposition group within his own international, and instead formed the Group of Opposition and Continuity of the Fourth International. In 1990, this dissolved itself into the

Workers International to Rebuild the Fourth International The Workers International to Rebuild the Fourth International (WIRFI) was a Trotskyist international organisation. It was established in the United Kingdom in 1990, following a split from the Workers Revolutionary Party. It was considered part of ...

, of which Varga became Secretary.

References

External links

Michel Varga (Balazs Nagy) papers held at the University of London
at marxists.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Varga, Michel 1927 births 2015 deaths People of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Hungarian Trotskyists