Paul Lendvai

Paul Lendvai (; born 24 August 1929) is a Hungarian-born Austrian author and journalist who focuses on topics such as Eastern Europe, communism, and anti-Semitism.

Early life

Lendvai was born in Budapest on 24 August 1929 to Jewish parents. When he was a teenager, he was arrested by the Nazis — likely when he was around 14-16 years old, during the time of the German occupation of Hungary. Lendvai began his career as a journalist in Hungary. However, following increasing political pressure and censorship under the communist regime, he emigrated to Austria in 1957 where he continued

Career

Hungary

Lendvai worked as a journalist in Hungary during the Rákosi era in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He was writing for ''Szabad Nép'' and serving as Chief of Foreign Reporting at the Hungarian news agency Magyar Távirati Iroda (MTI).

He was a member of the border guard regiment of the AVH (the communist State Protection Authority, informally known as "The Fist of the Party") in Szombathely in 1951. The following year, he became a special agent at the AVH Training Garrison in Budapest. Historical studies suggest that Lendvai served as an interrogating officer during trials against the church.

Lendvai was a member of the Hungarian Working People's Party, and in 1953, he was deemed politically unreliable and imprisoned by the communist regime for eight months, and banned from working in media for three years. According to Lendvai, this denunciation was based on his perceived social democratic views. He was subsequently rehabilitated, and in 1957, he contributed to editing the ''White Papers –'' a publication aimed towards promoting, both domestically and internationally, the communist narrative that the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight was a coup attempt orchestrated by reactionary and fascist groups.

Lendvai eventually left Hungary on assignment to report from Poland, and in 1957, moved to Vienna, Austria.

His books from the 1950s include ''Tito, the Enemy of the Hungarian People'' (1951) and ''France at a Crossroads'' (1955).

Austria

After arriving in Vienna, Lendvai assisted foreign correspondents reporting on Hungary. He wrote articles under aliases such as "György Holló", "Árpád Bécs", or "Paul Landy." He became a naturalized Austrian in 1959, and became a journalist specializing on the topic of Eastern Europe. He served as the Eastern European correspondent for the daily ''Die Presse'' broadsheet and the ''Financial Times'' newspaper for twenty-two years.

Lendvai contributed to the British newspaper ''The Economist'' and wrote columns for Austrian, German, and Swiss newspapers and radio stations. In 1982, he became editor-in-chief at the Eastern Europe department of the ORF public broadcasting company and director-general of Radio Österreich International in 1987. His weekly columns were published by the newspaper ''Der Standard''. In 1985, the Hungarian communist leadership organized a Cultural Forum, inviting 900 politicians, writers, and notable people. Concurrently, a "counter-cultural forum" was planned with expected participation from "dissidents and opposition groups," including György Konrád. In 2010, a Hungarian pro-government newspaper accused Lendvai of collaborating with the communist regime by providing information about the counter-forum to the Hungarian authorities.Ghosts of the communist past
/ref> Socialist ex-prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány defended Lendvai, stating,

"As for me, I support him in his struggle to make a case for his decisions of yesteryear. ..And we've got to stop digging up the past."

Hungarian novelist György Konrád, one of the intended speakers of the opposition event, expressed despondency over the allegations, stating, "If this was how things were, then it is very sad."Lendvai Reloaded
Lendvai denied the accusations, attributing the campaign against him to his criticism of the current government in his latest book. Former conservative MP Debreczeni, philosopher Sandor Radnoti, and Austrian conservative leader Erhard Busek defended his integrity. János Nagy, the ambassador with whom Lendvai spoke at the time, was interviewed about the matter on Klubrádió and stated that his reports faithfully reflected their conversations. An article in the left-wing Népszabadság agreed with Lendvai's defense that he was not an agent, but stated he was nonetheless a willing and active collaborator within the Communist regime.

On 19 March 2011, Lendvai presented the Hungarian translation of his book ''Mein verspieltes Land'' ("My squandered country") in Budapest. In his 1998 memoir, ''Blacklisted: A Journalist's Life in Central Europe'', he discusses themes of ethnic hatred, political instability, and antisemitism in 20th-century Central Europe.

Lendvai was founder, editor-in-chief and co-publisher of ''Europäische Rundschau'', a Vienna-based international quarterly published between 1973-2020. Austrian president Heinz Fischer and former Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg gave speeches at the review's 40th anniversary on 8 November 2013. Lendvai was appointed chairman of the independent migration council for Austria on 3 April 2014 by the Minister of the Interior.Austrian News Agency APA 4 April 2014

Secret police file

In the 1990s, Lendvai attempted to access his secret service file through a meeting with Socialist Prime Minister Gyula Horn but was unsuccessful. While honored in the Hungarian Parliament, he reportedly commented, “I’d rather get my files than the award.” The file, originally classified until 15 February 2042, was declassified under a 2003 law, along with other documents. In 2006, Lendvai requested and obtained his records from the Hungarian secret service archives, later describing their contents in an article for the literary weekly ''Élet és Irodalom (ÉS)''. In this article, he named several individuals assigned to his case.

According to Lendvai, the files totaled over 300 pages and identified him by the pseudonym “Michael Cole.” He subtitled his article, “The story of an unsuccessful recruitment,” stating that Hungarian intelligence services reportedly attempted but failed to recruit him as an agent. Although the file indicates he was never formally recruited, a report dated 24 July 1963 supposedly describes him as “one of the best contacts” of the intelligence services. In his account, Lendvai explains that he sought certain benefits by interacting with Hungarian authorities, such as travel rights for reporting, a visa for his mother, and the revocation of his Hungarian citizenship to facilitate work in Eastern Bloc countries.

Lendvai claims he achieved some of these goals by entertaining Hungarian officials, including Gyula Ortutay, at Austrian striptease shows. These officials subsequently intervened on his behalf. Lendvai also asserts that some reports attributed to an operative codenamed “Urbán” that portrayed him as a source were fabricated by Urbán himself.

After his emigration, Hungarian communist state security placed him on a blacklist. However, from 1963 onward, discussions within the Ministry of the Interior emerged regarding removing his name and recognizing him as a valuable " social contacts source." By 1972, he was officially removed from the list with the justification that his "regular visits served operational interests."

Beyond providing intelligence regarding Western European countries and Austrian political and media circles, he played a role in shaping the public image of the Kádár regime. In 1976, as part of an effort to "civilize"/''"counterbalance"'' (Lendvai's term) an Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) program commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, he produced a film that emphasized the "progress of the past two decades," reportedly adhering closely to narrative guidelines provided by the Hungarian government. He reported to the intelligence network in Vienna that "ORF is in my hands," suggesting influence over the portrayal of socialist Hungary in Western media. He later reported that the documentary was completed and broadcast.

Historian Ilkei Csaba later stated that he had uncovered documents suggesting that Lendvai interacted with Hungarian state security as a 'social contact.' In 2011, Csaba published a collection of original archival documents.

In his own 2007 publication, Lendvai identified his accuser from 1953 as journalist Péter Vajda (born 1931), who was also an armed officer at the communist State Defence Authority (ÁVH) at the time. When Lendvai wrote the article in 2007, Vajda was reportedly leading the press office of the National Security Cabinet in Ferenc Gyurcsány's government. In his response article, Péter Vajda provided evidence of Paul Lendvai's activities within the ÁVH before 1953, and included a letter from Lendvai's father to the communist government. In the letter, his father reportedly claimed Lendvai was faithful and loyal to the communist government.

Works

* ''Tito, a magyar nép ellensége'' (1951)
* ''Franciaország keresztúton'' (1955)
*
Eagles in Cobwebs: Nationalism and Communism in the Balkans
' (1969)
* ''Anti-Semitism without Jews: Communist Eastern Europe'' (1971)
* ''Anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe'' (1972)
* ''Kreisky – Portrait eines Staatsmannes'' (1974)
* ''Die Grenzen des Wandels: Spielarten des Kommunismus im Donauraum'' (1977)
* ''Bureaucracy of Truth: How Communist Governments Manage the News'' (1981)
* ''Das Einsame Albanien: Reportage aus dem Land der Skipetaren'' (1985)
* ''Das eigenwillige Ungarn: Innenansichten eines Grenzgängers'' (1986)
* ''Hungary: The Art of Survival'' (1990)
* ''Honnan – Hová? – Gondolatok a közép- és kelet-európai változásokról'' (1995)
* ''Auf schwarzen Listen. Erlebnisse eines Mitteleuropäers'' (1996)
* ''Blacklisted: A Journalist's Life in Central Europe'' (1998)
* ''Hungarians: A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat'' (2003)
* ''A világ egy kritikus európai szemével'' (2005)
* ''Az osztrák titok – 50 év a hatalom kulisszái mögött'' (2007)
* ''Best of Paul Lendvai'' (2008)
* ''One Day That Shook the Communist World: The 1956 Hungarian Uprising and Its Legacy'' (2008)
* ''Inside Austria: New Challenges, Old Demons'' (2010)
* ''Mein verspieltes Land – Ungarn im Umbruch'' (2010)
* ''Az eltékozolt ország'' (2011)
* ''Három élet – Beszélgetés Mihancsik Zsófiával'' (2012)
* ''Hungary: Between Democracy and Authoritarianism'' (2012)
* ''Leben eines Grenzgängers'' (2013)
* ''Orbáns Ungarn'' (2016)
* ''Orbán: Europe's New Strongman'' (2017)

Decorations and awards

* 1974: Karl Renner Prize
* 1974: Golden Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
* 1980: Appointed Professor
* 1984: Karl Renner Prize of Vienna
* 1986: Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
* 1989: Gold Medal for services to the city of Vienna
* 1990: Great Gold Medal of Styria
* 1990: Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
* 1994: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class
* 1994: Bruno Kreisky Prize for Political Books for ''Between hope and disillusionment – reflections on the changes in Eastern Europe''
* 1997: Silver Commander's Cross of Honour for Services to the province of Lower Austria
* 1998
Axel Corti Prize
* 1999: Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
* 2000
Grand Prize of Burgenland Journalist Award
* 2001: Television Award of the Austrian Adult Education for his biography of Bruno Kreisky (with Helene Maimann)
* 2001: Award of the Budapest Corvinus Europe Institute
* 2001: Grand Gold Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
* 2002
Dr. Alois Mock Europe Prize
* 2003: Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
* 2003: Fellowship of the Centre for Applied Policy Research (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)
* 2005: Austrian State Prize for Cultural Journalism
* 2008: Honorary Award of the Austrian book trade for tolerance in thought and action.

References

External links

Lelepleztük a német sajtó Magyarország felelősét

The Unreluctant Henchman

Paul Lendvai reloaded

State Prize for Cultural Journalism 2006 goes to Paul Lendvai

Lendvai's speech
(in German) on Victory in Europe DayFestival of Joy
/ref> 2025

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lendvai, Paul
1929 births
People from Budapest
Writers from Budapest
Hungarian journalists
Austrian Jews
Austrian journalists
Hungarian people of Jewish descent
Hungarian emigrants to Austria
Living people
Austrian television presenters
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class
Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Commander's Crosses with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil)
Recipients of the Austrian State Prize