Ferenc Havasi

Ferenc Havasi (born February 20, 1929 in Piszke , Komárom-Esztergom county , † June 3, 1993 in Tata , Komárom-Esztergom county) was a Hungarian politician of the party of the Hungarian working people MDP (Magyar Dolgozók Pártja) and finally the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party MSZMP (Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt) , who was among other things Vice-Prime Minister, Central Committee Secretary for Economy and First Secretary of the MSZMP City Council of Budapest . On the XII. Party Congress on March 27, 1980 he was elected a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the MSZMP and belonged to this top management body of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party until May 22, 1988.

Life

Education, party functionary and vice-prime minister

Havasi, whose father worked in the cement factory in Lábatlan , left school at the age of 14 in 1943 to work like his father in the cement factory before completing his apprenticeship as a bricklayer. In 1947 he joined the construction workers' union and in 1948 the party of the Hungarian working people MDP (Magyar Dolgozók Pártja) as a member. In 1949 he became party secretary in the cement and lime works Lábatlan and in 1950 secretary for agitation and propaganda of the MDP city leadership of Tatabánya .

After studying for a year at the party college, Havasi took over the management of the agitprop department in 1952 and was then second secretary of the MDP in Komárom-Esztergom county between 1954 and 1956. After studying at the party college of the CPSU in Moscow from 1958 to 1961, he returned as Second Secretary of the MDP in Komárom-Esztergom County, before becoming First Secretary of the MSZMP in Komárom-Esztergom County from June 8, 1966 to July 4, 1975 was. At the same time he was on the IX. Party Congress on December 3, 1966 elected a member of the Central Committee (ZK) of the MSZMP and belonged to this until May 22, 1988.

On July 4, 1975, he became vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers and was thus deputy to Prime Minister György Lázár until April 22, 1978 . His rise to the Budapest headquarters in the mid-1970s coincided with the decision of the First Secretary of the MSZMP János Kádár to revive the economic reform, which was temporarily slowed down in 1973.

Central Committee Secretary, Politburo member and party leader of Budapest

After leaving the government, Havasi became Central Committee Secretary for Economy on April 22, 1978. In addition, he was chairman of the party committee for economic policy and between 1980 and 1985 head of the working group for economics and from 1980 to 1987 co-chair of the working group for politics.

On the XII. Party Congress on March 27, 1980 he was elected a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the MSZMP and belonged to it until May 22, 1988. At the beginning of the 1980s he set decisive accents in economic issues, in some cases reinforced by public appearances. According to popular opinion, he belonged to the narrow circle of highest functionaries who could continue the cautious pilot program for goulash communism , specifically Hungarian socialism, as the successor to the then 70-year-old Kádár.

At the same time he was on June 8, 1980 also a member of parliament (Országgyűlés) and initially represented the 1st constituency of Komárom-Esztergom County. He was then elected from June 8, 1985 to June 29, 1988 on the reserve list of the Patriotic Popular Front HNF (Hazafias Népfront) to the MP.

Since he had not been able to steer economic reforms despite his understanding of the need for change, Havasi had to resign on June 25, 1987 as Central Committee Secretary for Economic Affairs. He became First Secretary of the MSZMP City Council of Budapest and resigned as such on June 9, 1988.

Web links

• Entry in Történelmi Tár (Hungarian)
• Entry in the Munzinger archive (top of the online version)
• Ferenc Havasi . In: Der Spiegel from January 3, 1983