Gyula Kállai (; 1 June 1910 – 12 March 1996) was a Hungarian communist politician who served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 1949 to 1951,

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

(Prime Minister) from 1965 to 1967 and Speaker of the National Assembly from 1967 to 1971. He was also President of the National Council of the Patriotic People's Front from 1957 to 1989.

Biography

The son of a bookmaker, Kállai was born in

Berettyóújfalu Berettyóújfalu is a town in Hajdú-Bihar county, in center of the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary, near the border with Romania. It is strategically located, being 35 km south of Debrecen, the second largest city in Hungary, ...

. In 1930, he enrolled as a student of Hungarian and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

at the

University of Budapest A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in 1930, transferring to the

University of Debrecen The University of Debrecen ( ) is a university located in Debrecen, Hungary. It is the oldest continuously operating institution of higher education in Hungary ever since its establishment in 1538. The university has a well established progra ...

in 1932. While a student, Kállai joined the

Hungarian Communist Party The Hungarian Communist Party (, , abbr. MKP), known earlier as the Party of Communists in Hungary (, , abbr. KMP), was a communist party in Hungary that existed during the interwar period and briefly after World War II. It was founded on Novem ...

(MKP) in 1931. Because of his political involvement, he was expelled from university in 1937 and started working as a journalist for the newspaper ''Független Újság'' in

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

and the

social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...

Budapest daily ''

Népszava ''Népszava'' (, meaning "People's Voice" in English) is a social-democratic Hungarian language newspaper published in Hungary. History and profile ''Népszava'' is Hungary's eldest continuous print publication and as of October 2019 the last ...

''. During

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 ...

, Kállai was involved in the resistance against the pro-

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

regime of

Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya (18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957) was a Hungarian admiral and statesman who was the Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary Hungary between the World Wars, during the ...

; he was arrested in July 1942 for participation in illegal demonstrations, but released in November of the same year due to lack of evidence. In September 1944, he participated in the refounding of the MKP, and served as representative of the party to the Hungarian National Independence Front. In 1945, Kállai was elected a member of the Central Committee of the MKP and made a Secretary of State in the first post-war government. He headed the Office of the President of the Republic from 1948, until his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs in August 1949. Kállai held this office until April 1951, when he was arrested on trumped-up charges and sentenced to life imprisonment in a secretly-held trial. Released in July 1954, Kállai joined the Ministry of Public Education. He was reinstated as a member of the Central Committee 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 ...

(MDP) in July 1956, and would remain a Central Committee member (after 1957 of the reorganized

Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (, , 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 People's Party during the Hungaria ...

, MSZMP) until 1989. During the 1956 revolution, Kállai was a member of the Provisional Executive Committee headed by

János Kádár János József Kádár (; ; né Czermanik; 26 May 1912 – 6 July 1989) was a Hungarian Communist leader and the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, a position he held for 32 years. Declining health led to his retireme ...

. In 1957, he visited and questioned

Imre Nagy Imre Nagy ( ; ; 7 June 1896 – 16 June 1958) was a Hungarian communist politician who served as Council of Ministers of the Hungarian People's Republic, Chairman of the Council of Ministers (''de facto'' Prime Minister of Hungary, Prime Minis ...

, who was Prime Minister during the revolution, in exile in Snagov,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. His report led to Nagy's ultimate execution. From 1957, Kállai held a number of ministerial positions: as Minister of Cultural Affairs between March 1957 and January 1958, Minister of State between January 1958 and January 1960, and as Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers between January 1960 and April 1965. Between June 1965 and April 1967, he was Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and then a member of the Presidential Council until 1989 as well as Speaker 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 repr ...

from April 1967 until May 1971.

References

External links

*Gyula Kállai
''The Counter-Revolution in Hungary in the Light of Marxism-Leninism''
pamphlet written by Kállai on the 1956 revolution. 1910 births 1996 deaths People from Berettyóújfalu Hungarian Communist Party politicians Members of the Hungarian Working People's Party Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Prime ministers of Hungary Ministers of foreign affairs of Hungary Ministers of education of Hungary Speakers of the National Assembly of Hungary Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1945–1947) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1947–1949) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1949–1953) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1967–1971) {{Hungary-politician-stub