Smallholder foreign minister who signed the 1945 armistice and the 1947 Paris peace treaty
Born János Heller in Berki, Sáros county, he fought in the First World War, worked as a journalist and then ran a bookshop and a liberal local paper in Békéscsaba. He joined the Independent Smallholders’ Party in 1931 and entered parliament in 1939. In October 1944 his relaunched paper welcomed the Red Army and he helped produce leaflets urging Hungarian soldiers to surrender; chosen by the Soviet side, he became foreign minister of the Provisional National Government on 22 December. He signed the armistice on 20 January 1945 and the Paris peace treaty on 10 February 1947, leaned increasingly towards the West, and was removed in May 1947 after Ferenc Nagy was forced out. He then chaired the Central Corporation of Banking Companies until his death.
Also known as: János Heller
Activities and affiliations
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1931–1951
Independent Smallholders' Party (FKGP)
Political and party leadership -
1939–1951
Hungary state institutionsMember of Parliament
Legislature and state representation -
1944–1947
Hungary state institutionsMinister of Foreign AffairsMain
Diplomacy and international organization -
1947–1951
Hungary state institutionsChairman of the Central Corporation of Banking Companies
Economy, finance and planning
Career Timeline
- 1931Joins the Independent Smallholders’ Party
- 1939Elected to parliament
- 1944.12.22–1947.05.31Foreign minister of the Provisional National Government
- 1945.01.20Signs the armistice in Moscow
- 1947.02.10Signs the Paris peace treaty
- 1947.08.12–1951.10.29Chairman of the Central Corporation of Banking Companies