Endre Mistéth (10 September 1912 – 12 July 2006) Hungarian bridge engineer, minister, winner of Szechenyi prize, builder of numerous bridges in Budapest following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early career

Mistath was born in Buziásfürdő,

Temes County County of Temes ( Hungarian: ''Temes'', Romanian: ''Timiș'', Serbian: ''Тамиш'' or ''Tamiš'', German: ''Temes'' or ''Temesch'') was an administrative county ( comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in southwestern ...

(now

Buziaș Buziaș (also known as Băile Buziaș or Buziaș-Băi; ; ) is a list of cities and towns in Romania, town in Timiș County, Romania. Thanks to its healing springs, it was once one of the most famous bathing places in Hungary and then in Romania; i ...

, Romania). His father's family was of

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

origin, and his mother's side was of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

descent. After the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

, the family moved from what became Romanian territory to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. He began his studies at Matyas Hunyadi military academy, originally intending for a career in the army, but eventually graduated from the

Budapest Technical University The Budapest University of Technology and Economics ( or in short ), official abbreviation BME, is a public university, public research university located in Budapest, Hungary. It is the most significant university of technology in the country ...

in 1935. He began work in the Ganz rail factory and later took part in the building of roads between

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

and

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. He opened his own practice in 1940. Among his early work was a cable bridge in

Szolnok Szolnok (; also known by #Name and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, in the heart of the Great Hungarian ...

which at the time was the largest of its kind in Europe. He took part in the resistance during

After 1945

Following the war, all of the bridges linking the two sides of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

in Budapest had to be rebuilt, as they had been blown up by the retreating German forces. Misteth designed the first temporary bridge (the "Manci") and the first permanent one, the Kossuth Bridge (it was later demolished as the other bridges were rebuilt). He also became involved in politics. In 1945 he became the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Works during the tenure of the Independent Smallholder's Party prior to the Communist takeover of the country. In the following year he became Minister for reconstruction but was put in prison following the so-called "Hungarian Society" show trial in 1947. He was released in 1955 but had to endure the following three and a half years under house arrest. After the 1960s he became an academic, finishing a doctorate in 1978.

Main works

*Manci and Kossuth bridges,

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

* Erzsébet bridge, Budapest (with others) *Heluani Nile bridge,

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

*Orontesz Valley bridge,

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

*Garmat bridge,

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

*Tisza bridge,

Sighetu Marmației Sighetu Marmației (, also spelled ''Sighetul Marmației''; or ''Siget''; , ; ; ), until 1960 Sighet, is a city in Maramureș County near the Iza River, in northwestern Romania. Geography Sighetu Marmației is situated along the Tisa river o ...

*Bős-nagymaros dam (with others) {{DEFAULTSORT:Misteth, Endre 1912 births 2006 deaths People from Buziaș Bridge engineers Hungarian people of French descent Hungarian people of Greek descent Hungarian people of Serbian descent Budapest University of Technology and Economics alumni 20th-century Hungarian engineers Hungarian prisoners and detainees