Rezső Nyers (; 21 March 1923 – 22 June 2018) was a Hungarian politician who served as

Minister of Finance of Hungary The Minister of Finance ( hu, pénzügyminiszter) is a member of the Government of Hungary, Hungarian cabinet and the head of the Ministry of Finance (Hungary), Ministry of Finance. The current minister is Mihály Varga. The position was called as ...

from 1960 to 1962. For a few months in 1989, he was the country's last Communist leader.

Political career

Rezső Nyers was born on 21 March 1923 as the son of Rezső Nyers, Sr. (1898–1956), who served as the last mayor of

Kispest Kispest (lit. ''Little Pest'') is the 19th (XIX) district of Budapest, Hungary. It lies south-southeast of the historical Pest city. It was founded in 1871 on rural land as a village at the borderline of Pest, so it was named Kispest. Histo ...

. After it became part of Budapest in 1950, he subsequently continued his position as chairman of the council of the 19th district. His mother was weaver Julianna Nagy (1899–1973). Until 1944 Nyers worked as a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

. He joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

in 1940. In 1948, the SZDP was forced to merge with the Communists into 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, John, ...

(MDP)–which was essentially a renamed and enlarged Communist Party. Nyers served as substitute member of the merged party's Central Leadership. From 1948 to 1953, he served as a representative of the

National Assembly of Hungary The National Assembly ( hu, Országgyűlés, lit=Country Assembly) is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 199 (386 between 1990 and 2014) members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is done using a semi-proport ...

. He was appointed head of a department of the Ministry of Domestic Commerce. In this same year he started his studies at the Karl Marx University of Economic Sciences. In 1954, he was elected member of the Central Leadership. During the

András Hegedüs András Hegedüs (; 31 October 1922 – 23 October 1999) was a Hungarian Communist politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1955 to 1956. He fled to the Soviet Union on 28 October, the fifth day of the Hungarian Rev ...

cabinet he served as Minister of Food Industry for a short time. In 1957, a year after the MDP was reorganized as he

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 ...

(MSZMP), Nyers was named to the Central Committee, remaining a member until 1989. He was also a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

from 1958 to 1989. After 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 ...

, Nyers also voted in favour of the death sentence for Imre Nagy. In 1968, Nyers drew up the contemporary economic reform package, the

New Economic Mechanism The New Economic Mechanism (NEM) ( hu, Új gazdasági mechanizmus) was a major economic reform launched in the People's Republic of Hungary in 1968. Between 1972 and 1978, it was curtailed by the prevailing winds of Eastern Bloc politics. During th ...

, with Prime Minister

Jenő Fock Jenő Fock (; 17 May 1916 – 22 May 2001) was a Hungarian Communist politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary from 1967 to 1975. Career Fock joined the Communist Party of Hungary in 19 ...

. After the failure of the reforms (because of the

orthodox Marxists Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought that emerged after the death of Karl Marx (1818–1883) and which became the official philosophy of the majority of the Socialism, socialist movement as represented in the Second International unt ...

' strengthening), he largely went into eclipse and lost political influence for decades. Nyers was appointed to the directorial post of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences' Economical Institute in 1974. As a result he resigned from all of his political positions (excluding the MSZMP Central Committee). He became chairman of the ''Közgazdasági Szemles Editorial Committee in 1976. He served as chairman of the National Assembly's Reform Committee from 1987. In 1987 he became a member of the government as Minister of State. In the summer of 1988, Secretary-General Károly Grósz announced that he intended to resign from his position of Prime Minister to concentrate entirely on the party organization. Unlike the previous practice, he nominated four candidates, including Nyers, to the position to consult with county party committees, trade unions and the Patriotic People’s Front. As Grósz was aware of the disastrous economic situation and impending insolvency,

Miklós Németh Miklós Németh (, born 24 January 1948) is a retired Hungarian economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 24 November 1988 to 23 May 1990. He was one of the leaders of the Socialist Workers' Party, Hungary's Communi ...

, who had established his reputation with his economic expertise, was also included. Finally the 66-year-old Nyers withdrew from candidature in favour of Németh, who took the oath on 24 November 1988. By this time, Nyers had become one of the more prominent members of a faction of radical reformers who wanted to jettison the Communist system in favour of a market economy. Other members of this faction included Németh, fellow Minister of State

Imre Pozsgay Imre András Pozsgay (''Pozsgay Imre'', ; 26 November 1933 – 25 March 2016) was a Hungarian Communist politician who played a key role in Hungary's transition to democracy after 1988. He served as Minister of Culture (1976–1980), Minister ...

, and Foreign Minister

Gyula Horn Gyula János Horn (5 July 1932 – 19 June 2013) was a Hungarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1994 to 1998. Horn is remembered as the last Communist Minister of Foreign Affairs who played a major role in the demolishi ...

. On 26 June 1989, Nyers was elected as president of the MSZMP, chairing a four-member collective presidency that replaced the Politburo. Nyers was elected by about 78-80 percent of the 1,256 delegates to the party congress. In this position, Nyers now outranked Grósz—thus effectively making him the leader of Hungary. Other members of the collective presidency included Grósz, Németh and Pozsgay. By this time, the MSZMP was no longer a Marxist-Leninist party. At its final congress on 7 October 1989, the MSZMP voted to disband and refound itself as the Hungarian Socialist Party, with Nyers as its first chairman. He was elected to parliament in the 1990 parliamentary election, in which the newly-minted Socialists were severely defeated, winning only 33 seats. Nyers stepped down as chairman shortly afterward, succeeded by

. He remained in parliament until his retirement from politics in 1998.

Later life

In 2011 the issue of the former communist leaders and senior officials' high state pensions were highlighted. His name appeared on ''

Heti Válasz ''Heti Válasz'' is a conservative online publication in Hungary. History and profile ''Heti Válasz'' was established in 2001. It is published weekly on Thursdays and is headquartered in Budapest. The magazine covers news on politics, economy a ...

s list, as well as the names of Béla Biszku or

György Lázár György Lázár (; 15 September 1924 – 2 October 2014) was a Hungarian Communist politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1975 to 1987. He retired from politics in 1988. Early life He was born into a labour family i ...

. Finally, the Metropolitan Administration and Labour Court withdrew his pension supplement in December 2013. In November 2014,

Jobbik The Movement for a Better Hungary ( hu, Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom), commonly known as Jobbik (), is a conservative political party in Hungary. Originating with radical and nationalist roots, at its beginnings, the party described itself ...

MP Előd Novák filed a report against Nyers of accusation of incitement to murder, unlawful detention and abetting. According to Novák, Nyers, as a member of the MSZMP's Central Committee, played an important role in the executions of Imre Nagy and other politicians following the

. On 31 December 2014, the Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office refused the accusation in the absence of a crime. Nyers died on 22 June 2018 at the age of 95 after a short illness.

Personal life

Nyers married historian Ilona Witz in 1946. She died in 1988. Nyers has one child, Rezső Nyers Jr., who served as

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

Hungarian National Bank The Hungarian National Bank ( hu, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB)) is the central bank of Hungary and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). The Hungarian National Bank was established in 1924 and succeeded the Royal Hungarian St ...

Publications

*''Szövetkezetek a magyar népi demokráciában'' (1959) *''A műszaki fejlesztés szerepe gazdaságpolitikánkban'' (1964) *''Gazdaságpolitikánk és a gazdasági mechanizmus reformja'' (1968) *''25 kérdés és válasz gazdaságpolitikai kérdésekről'' (1969) *''A szocialista gazdasági integráció elvi és gyakorlati kérdései'' (1969) *''A jövedelmezőség és a jövedelemelosztás problémái hazánkban'' (1970) *''Szövetkezetpolitikánk kérdései'' (1970) *''Népgazdaságunk a szocializmus építésének útján'' (1970) *''Útkeresés – reformok'' (1988) *''Beszélgetések'' (with Tibor Huszár, 2004)

References

Sources