Ferenc Nagy

Who was Ferenc Nagy?

Ferenc Nagy was a Hungarian politician of the Smallholders Party. He was a Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary from 29 November 1945 to 5 February 1946 and a member of the High National Council from 7 December 1945 to 2 February 1946.

Nagy was reported to be of peasant origins.

Later he served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 4 February 1946 to 31 May 1947. He was elected in 1946, in Hungary's first democratic election. As prime minister, he resisted attempts by the Hungarian Communist Party to gain complete control of the government. He refused attempts by the Communists to become a puppet of a Soviet backed police state, but resigned under duress. He gave up the premiership in return for his son and 300,000 Swiss francs. Subsequently he was granted asylum in the United States.

He documented his life and political career in The Struggle behind the Iron Curtain, published by MacMillan in 1948.

Royalties from his memoirs helped him buy a house with a substantial garden plot in Herndon, Virginia, there to live out his days.