István Dobi (; 31 December 1898 – 24 November 1968) was a Hungarian politician who was

Prime Minister of Hungary The prime minister of Hungary ( hu, Magyarország miniszterelnöke) is the head of government of Hungary. The prime minister and the Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Parliament, to their political part ...

from 1948 to 1952 and Chairman of the

Presidential Council of the Hungarian People's Republic The Presidential Council of the Hungarian People's Republic was the collective head of state of Hungary during the Communist era. It was created in 1949, following the enactment of a new constitution that year that officially created the People' ...

from 1952 to 1967.

Early life

Dobi originated from a poor peasant family and was born in

Szőny Szőny was a town in Hungary. Since 1977, it has been part of the city of Komárom. History The Roman legion Legio I Adiutrix was based here from 86 AD to the mid-5th century and took part in several Parthian wars. The town was known as Briget ...

, in the

Komárom County Komárom (Hungarian: ; german: Komorn; la, Brigetio, later ; sk, Komárno) is a city in Hungary on the south bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárno, Slovakia, is on the northern bank. Komárom was formerly a separate vill ...

of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

. He only completed six years primary school and started working as a

day labor Day labor (or day labour in Commonwealth spelling) is work done where the worker is hired and paid one day at a time, with no promise that more work will be available in the future. It is a form of contingent work. Types Day laborers (also ...

er from an early age. In 1916 came into contact with the agricultural workers' movement. After having fought in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he supported the

Hungarian Soviet Republic The Socialist Federative Republic of Councils in Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Szocialista Szövetséges Tanácsköztársaság) (due to an early mistranslation, it became widely known as the Hungarian Soviet Republic in English-language sources ( ...

. During the

Hungarian–Romanian War The Hungarian–Romanian War was fought between Hungary and Romania from 13 November 1918 to 3 August 1919. The conflict had a complex background, with often contradictory motivations for the parties involved. The Allies of World War I intended ...

of 1919 he was captured by the Romanians. Upon his release, he worked as a casual laborer and became active in the agricultural workers' union as well as in the

Social Democratic Party of Hungary The Social Democratic Party of Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Szociáldemokrata Párt, MSZDP) is a social democratic political party in Hungary. Historically, the party was dissolved during the occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany (1944–1945) ...

from the early 1920s. For this, he was put under police surveillance. In 1936 he switched to the

Independent Smallholders' Party The Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party ( hu, Független Kisgazda-, Földmunkás- és Polgári Párt), known mostly by its acronym FKgP or its shortened form Independent Smallholders' Party ( hu, Független Kisgazdapárt), ...

and became a functionary in the

Kisalföld The Little Hungarian Plain or Little Alföld ( Hungarian: ''Kisalföld'', Slovak: ''Malá dunajská kotlina'', German: ''Kleine Ungarische Tiefebene'') is a plain (tectonic basin) of approximately 8,000 km² in northwestern Hungary, sout ...

Chamber of Agriculture. Although he was not a member of the Communist Party, he was arrested several times during the

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya ( hu, Vitéz nagybányai Horthy Miklós; ; English: Nicholas Horthy; german: Nikolaus Horthy Ritter von Nagybánya; 18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957), was a Hungarian admiral and dictator who served as the regent ...

World War II

During the war he became one of the leaders of the Hungarian resistance until he was called up for duty, returning in the summer of 1945.

Post war

By the end of World War II he had become a leading member of the Smallholders Party, which achieved a majority in the 1945 general elections. Dobi was a member of the left-wing faction of that party, and advocated cooperation with the communists. With the Smallholders being a part of Hungary's post-war coalition government, Dobi served as Minister of Agriculture from February 1946 to November 1946 (under prime minister

Ferenc Nagy Ferenc Nagy (; 8 October 1903 – 12 June 1979) was a Hungarian politician of the Smallholders Party who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1946 until his forced resignation in 1947. He was also a Speaker of the National Assembly of Hung ...

) and again from April 1948 to December 1948 (under Lajos Dinnyés). As a leading member of the Smallholders' left wing, Dobi contributed some much needed legitimacy to a government that was increasingly dominated by Communists. After several splits and the expulsion, arrest or exile of anti-communist members ("

salami tactics Salami slicing tactics, also known as salami slicing, salami tactics, the salami-slice strategy, or salami attacks, is the practice of using a series of many small actions to produce a much larger action or result that would be difficult or unlawf ...

"), Dobi was elected chairman of the Smallholders Party in June 1947. The party concluded an alliance with the communists, social democrats and National Peasant Party for the rigged 1947 parliamentary election. Due in part to his strong support of the Communists, he replaced fellow Smallholder Lajos Dinnyés as prime minister in December 1948, helping preside over the final stage of the Communists' complete takeover of the country. In short order, Dobi pushed out those elements of his party who were unwilling to do the Communists' bidding, leaving the party in the hands of

fellow traveler The term ''fellow traveller'' (also ''fellow traveler'') identifies a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member of that o ...

s like himself. This process was repeated with the other non-Communist parties as well. Thus, by the time of the

1949 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1949. Previous: List of elections in 1948 Next: List of elections in 1949 Asia Afghanistan * 1949 Afghan parliamentary election Iran * 1949 Iranian Senate elections Israel * 1949 Israeli legisl ...

, Hungary was effectively a one-party state. The 1949 elections formalized this status, with voters only having the option of approving or rejecting a Communist-dominated list. One of the first acts of the newly elected National Assembly was to approve a Soviet-style constitution, formally marking the onset of out-and-out Communist rule in Hungary. The Smallholders' Party was effectively disbanded. In terms of allegations of collaboration with the party, the New Hungarian Encyclopedia summed up Dobi's role in the Communist takeover in this way: "Following the ousting of the Smallholders Party right wing elements, he was selected to be president. Under his direction the party was cleansed of its reactionary elements and it became part of the program for building a people's democracy with the Communists."

Presidency of the People's Republic

In 1952, he gave up the prime ministership because Communist Party leader

Mátyás Rákosi Mátyás Rákosi (; born Mátyás Rosenfeld; 9 March 1892
– 5 February 1971) was a Hungarian communis ...

wanted that post for himself. Dobi was then promoted to Chairman of the Presidential Council (ceremonial head of state) from 1952 until his retirement in April 1967. Through taking on numerous other high-profile roles, he eventually became the second or third most powerful man in Hungary. He supported the crushing of the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

. Having been a "crypto-communist" for many years, Dobi formally joined the

Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt, MSZMP) was the ruling Marxist–Leninist party of the Hungarian People's Republic between 1956 and 1989. It was organised from elements of the Hungarian Working Peo ...

in 1959. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962. He died in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

in 1968.

References

Writings of István Dobi
Politikatörténeti és Szakszervezeti Levéltár, PIL 769. f.

In: Országgyűlési Almanach 1947–1949, Budapest, 2005, {{DEFAULTSORT:Dobi, Istvan 1898 births 1968 deaths People from Komárom People from the Kingdom of Hungary Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party politicians Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Presidents of Hungary Prime Ministers of Hungary Agriculture ministers of Hungary Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1945–1947) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1947–1949) Lenin Peace Prize recipients