István Dobi
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István Dobi (December 31, 1898 – November 24, 1968) was a Hungarian politician and prime minister of Hungary from 1948 to 1952.
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[edit] Early life
Dobi originated from a poor peasant family and was born in Szőny, Hungary. He finished primary school and in 1916 came into contact with the peasant movement. He supported the Hungarian Soviet Republic and in 1919 he was imprisoned for the first time. Upon his release, he was active in peasant and social democratic politics from the early 1920s and under police surveillance for this. He later worked as a casual laborer and became a farmer by occupation. Although he was not a Communist, he was arrested several times during the pre-WWII dictatorship of Regent Horthy.
[edit] World War II
During the war he became one of the leaders of the Hungarian resistance until he was called up for duty, returning in the summer of 1945. By the end of World War II he had become a leading member of the Smallholders Party, which achieved a majority in general elections. Dobi was a member of the left-wing faction of that party, and advocated cooperation with the communists.
[edit] Post war
With the Smallholders being a part of Hungary's post war coalition government, Dobi was Minister of Agriculture. He held this post until he became Hungary's prime minister in December 1948.
It is believed by some that Dobi was a Soviet agent for the entire time that he was in the Smallholders party[citation needed]. In public relations terms, he was seen as someone supporting and shoring up the Communist's waning support, he lent some much needed legitimacy to the party, being from another party. In terms of allegations of collaboration with the party, the New Hungarian Encyclopedia says: "Following the ousting of the Smallholders Party right wing elements, he was selected to be president. Under his direction the party was cleansed of its reactionary elements and it became part of the program for building a people's democracy with the Communists."
Through taking on numerous high-profile roles, Dobi eventually became a high-ranking communist, although he only formally joined the party in 1959. He served as prime minister of Hungary from December 10, 1948 until August 14, 1952 and Chairman of the Presidential Council from 1952 until his retirement in April 1967. He was officially the second or third most powerful politician in Hungary, and supported the crushing of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He was a winner of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962. He died in Budapest.
[edit] Alcoholism
Anecdotally his alcoholism was well known. Many jokes were made of this and in this respect he was the antithesis of the long serving first secretary of the Communist Party in Hungary, Janos Kadar. Otherwise, Dobi was a career politician distinguished only from others by his past.
| Preceded by Lajos Dinnyés |
Prime Minister of Hungary 1948–1952 |
Succeeded by Mátyás Rákosi |
| Preceded by Sándor Rónai |
Chairman of the Hungarian Presidential Council 1952–1967 |
Succeeded by Pál Losonczi |
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