Imre Nagy

7. June 1896 – 16. June 1958

Imre Nagy was born in Kaposvár He dropped out of the secondary school

because his father lost his job He worked as a locksmith, and he was

also employed in a lawyer’s office

During the World War I he fought on the Italian and the Russian fronts

In 1920 he joined the Hungarian Communist Party, and later he also became the member of the Russian Communist Party.

In 1921 he returned to Kaposvár where he actively participated in the local Social Democratic Party and Trade Union.

Imre Nagy was expelled from the party and became a founding member of the Socialist Workers’ Party of Hungary.

He was arrested several times and in 1928 he fled to Vienna, Austria.

In 1930 he emigrated with his family to Moscow He became the editor in chief of Radio Kossuth broadcast

from Tbilisi during the World War II.

With his family in 1930

In 1944 he became the Minister of Agriculture of the Provisional Government, he implemented the land reform in 1945

In 1952 he was the Minister for Farm Deliveries then Deputy Prime Minister

Prime Minister on 4th July 1953 In 1954 he started political and economic reform, for

example, higher wages, lower prices and quitting agricultural cooperatives

In 1955 he was expelled from all state and party offices He was also excluded from the Communist Party He lived in home guard He strongly criticised the Stalinist regime, the

personality cult and dictatorship

On 23 October 1956 the demonstrating mass in Budapest claimed Nagy’s appointment to be the head of government

He was accepted next day On 28 October he called for a cease-fire On 30 October he announced the multi-party system On 1 November he announced Hungary’s neutrality and its

withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact He asked UN and the Security Council for help

On 4 November on Tito’s invitation Nagy and his colleagues with their families sought refuge at the Yugoslavian Embassy. 

On 22 November Imre Nagy and his colleagues were kidnapped by the KGB and driven to Romania. This action was led by János Kádár (the Prime Minister of Hungary) and his administration.

In April 1957 Imre Nagy and his colleagues were arrested and transported to a jail in Budapest

Their families remained in Romania as hostages

On 21 December 1957 their political trial began

In the show trial Nagy denied the charges against him and maintained his belief that the revolution was a pure movement

He was sentenced to death on 15 July 1958 and refused to apply for clemency.

On 16 June 1958 at 5 am he was executed

His body was transported to the most distant section of the nearby cemetery in 1961. 

He was buried face-down amongst the remains of criminals and zoo animals under the female name Piroska Borbíró. 

In 1989 he and other martyrs were exhumed, and a funeral ceremony was held on the Heroes’ Square in Budapest on 16 June

The Supreme Court declared him innocent, and in 1996 the Parliament passed a law to eternally engrave Imre Nagy’s name on the nation’s mind.

Imre Nagy remained faithful to his beliefs and to the country and the revolution until his death.

His figure has become an example of morality and a symbol of loyalty.