Printer and Social Democratic leader who headed the six-day “trade-union government” after the fall of the Soviet Republic
Born in Ravazd in Győr County, the son of a butcher, he became a typesetter, led the printers’ union and the consumer co-operative movement, and joined the Social Democratic leadership in 1909. He was labour and welfare minister in the Berinkey government in 1919 and resigned his party posts in opposition to the merger with the Communists and the proclamation of the dictatorship of the proletariat. When the council government resigned on 1 August 1919 he became prime minister, abolished the Soviet Republic and revoked its decrees, but on 6 August he was ousted by István Friedrich with Romanian backing. He then helped rebuild the Social Democratic Party and sat in parliament from 1922 to 1931.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1900–1918Editor of the printers’ weekly Typographia
- 1909Social Democratic Party leadership
- 1919Labour and welfare minister in the Berinkey government
- 1919Prime minister of the “trade-union government”
- 1922–1931Member of parliament