István Kristóf

István Kristóf (born August 14, 1912 in Kaposvár , Somogy county , † July 17, 1979 in Budapest ) was a Hungarian politician of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party MSZMP (Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt) , who was among other things secretary of the collective state presidency between 1956 and 1961.

Life

Kristóf attended elementary school for seven years and then worked as a shoemaker journeyman . In 1927 he joined the leather workers' union BMSZ (Bőripari Munkások Szövetsége) and in 1934 the then banned Hungarian Communist Party MKP (Magyar Kommunista Párt) . In 1940 he became vice president of the BMSZ in Budapest and was drafted into military service during the Second World War . In 1942 he was arrested for communist activities within the armed forces. After he managed to escape in 1944, he lived underground until the end of the war.

After the war, Kristóf was first secretary and then between 1947 and 1949 general secretary of the leather workers' union. On May 15, 1949 he was also elected as a candidate on the joint list of the Hungarian Independent Popular Front MFN (Magyar Függetlenségi Népfront) and the Patriotic Popular Front HNF (Hazafias Népfront) as a member of the Hungarian Parliament (Országgyűlés) . February 1971 belonged. In 1949 he switched to the party of the Hungarian working people MDP (Magyar Dolgozók Pártja), which emerged from the merger between the MKP and the Social Democratic Party of Hungary MSZDP (Magyarországi Szociáldemokrata Párt) on June 12, 1948 and was there initially between April 19 and May 31 1950 head of the Central Committee department for party and mass organizations. In addition, he became a candidate for the Central Committee on May 31, 1951 and was then a member of the Central Committee of the MDP from March 1, 1951 to May 30, 1954. At the same time, he was a member of the Central Committee's secretariat between March 1951 and June 1953 and, between April 1951 and January 1952, again head of the Central Committee's department for party and mass organizations.

On March 1, 1951, Kristóf was first a candidate and then on May 22, 1951 a member of the Politburo of the MDP, of which he was a member until May 30, 1954. At the same time he became general secretary in January 1952 and then in February 1953 president of the national council of the trade union federation SZOT (Szakszervezetek Országos Tanácsa) . He was also between May 1952 and February 1956 member of the collective state presidency (Népköztársaság Elnöki Tanácsa) . He then acted from May 1954 to October 1956 as chairman of the Central Revision Commission of the MDP (Központi Revíziós Bizottságának) . In February 1956 he succeeded Iván Darabos as secretary of the State Presidium and held this office until he was replaced by Károly Kiss in October 1961. After that, between October 1961 and March 1963 he was again a member of the State Presidency. He then acted from 1963 to 1968 first as Secretary General and then until his death in 1979 as President of the Hungarian-Soviet Friendship Society MSZBT (Magyar-Szovjet Baráti Társaság) .

Web links

• Entry in Történelmi Tár (Hungarian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In parliament Kristóf initially represented Nógrád County from May 15, 1949 to November 16, 1958, Pest County from November 16, 1958 to March 19, 1967 and most recently from March 19, 1967 to February 10, 1971 the constituency of Pest County No. 28 .