Zoltán Tildy

The native form of this personal name is Tildy Zoltán. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Zoltán Tildy
Zoltán Tildy in 1946
President of Hungary
In office 1 February 1946 – 3 August 1948
Prime Minister	Ferenc Nagy Mátyás Rákosi (acting) Lajos Dinnyés
Preceded by	High National Council
Succeeded by	Árpád Szakasits
Prime Minister of Hungary
In office 15 November 1945 – 1 February 1946
Monarch	Vacant
Head of State	High National Council
Preceded by	Béla Miklós
Succeeded by	Ferenc Nagy
Minister of State
In office 27 October 1956 – 4 November 1956
Prime Minister	Imre Nagy
Member of the High National Council
In office 7 December 1945 – 1 February 1946 Serving with Ferenc Nagy, László Rajk, and Béla Varga (to 8 January 1946)
Preceded by	Béla Miklós Béla Zsedényi Mátyás Rákosi
Succeeded by	Himself as President of the Republic
Personal details
Born	(1889-11-18)18 November 1889 Losonc, Nógrád County, Kingdom of Hungary (today Lučenec, Slovakia)
Died	3 August 1961(1961-08-03) (aged 71) Budapest, Hungarian People's Republic
Political party	Independent Smallholders' Party
Spouse	Erzsébet Gyenis
Children	Zoltán Tildy, Jr. Erzsébet László
Profession	Minister

Zoltán Tildy (Hungarian: [ˈzoltaːn ˈtildi]; 18 November 1889 – 3 August 1961), was an influential leader of Hungary, who served as prime minister from 1945 to 1946 and president from 1946 until 1948 in the post-war period before the seizure of power by Soviet-backed communists.

Biography

Early life and family

Zoltán Tildy was born in Losonc (Lučenec now in Slovakia), in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the family of a Hungarian official in the local government. He took a degree in theology from the Reformed Theological Academy in Pápa, afterwards spending a year studying at Assembly's College, Belfast, in Ireland. Tildy served as an active minister of the Reformed Church beginning in 1921, and edited the daily paper of the Reformed church in Hungary, the Keresztény Család (Christian Family), as well as other periodicals. In 1929, Tildy joined the Independent Smallholders' Party (FKgP) with other noted Hungarian political figures, including Ferenc Nagy. He became executive vice-president of the organization soon afterwards.

He married Erzsébet Gyenis (1896–1985) in 1916 and had three children: Zoltán Tildy, Jr. (1917–1994), Erzsébet Tildy (1918–2012), and László Tildy (1921–1983).

Political career and later life

Tildy palace – Andrássy avenue 96

Grave of Zoltán Tildy and his wife, Erzsébet Gyenis in Budapest.

Tildy was elected to the Hungarian parliament in 1933, being reelected in 1936 and 1939. He put pressure on Horthy's government to pull out of the Second World War. After Hungary was occupied by the Germans, Tildy was forced into hiding. When the Soviets occupied Hungary and drove out the Germans, Tildy became leader of the FKgP and was appointed Prime Minister of Hungary, serving from 15 November 1945 until 1 February 1946, when he was elected President of Hungary. Tildy was an ex officio member of the High National Council from 7 December 1945 until 2 February 1946.

Serving as the first President of the Republic of Hungary when he was forced to resign in July 1948 after allegations emerged about his son-in-law being arrested for corruption and adultery. Tildy was held under house arrest in Budapest until May 1, 1956. He was appointed to the position of a state minister in the coalition government during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and was eventually arrested by Soviet forces after the revolution was crushed by Warsaw Pact intervention. On 15 June 1958 Tildy was sentenced by the Supreme Court to six years' imprisonment, in the trial of Imre Nagy and associates. However, he was released under an individual amnesty in April 1959 in view of his advanced years (in fact due to illness). He then lived in complete retirement until he died in Budapest on 3 August 1961.

References

• Föglein Gizella: Az államfő "intézménye" 1944 és 1949 között
• Haas György: A kisgazda államminiszter
• Sulinet

External links

• Newspaper clippings about Zoltán Tildy in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW