Béla Varga (18 February 1903 – 13 October 1995) was a Hungarian

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He was one of the founders of the

Independent Smallholders' Party The Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party (), known mostly by its acronym FKgP or its shortened form Independent Smallholders' Party (), is a list of political parties in Hungary, political party in Budapest, Hungary. During ...

. During World War II, Varga assisted Polish refugees to flee the Nazis. He was arrested by USSR Red Army troops in 1945 and sentenced to death, but released and served as

Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary The speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary (, literally the president of National Assembly) is the presiding officer of the National Assembly of Hungary. The current speaker is László Kövér, since 6 August 2010. The speaker of the Nat ...

February 7, 1946 – July 3, 1947. Msgr. Varga emigrated to the United States in 1947, where he worked as a priest in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, but returned to his native country in 1990 shortly after the Communist Party lost power in 1989, at which point Hungary moved from a one-party socialist state towards a multi-party democracy. In February 1989, the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP) agreed to introduce a pluralist political system and in May 1989, the barbed wire fence along Hungary's border was taken down which led to the fall of the Iron Curtain. The first free elections took place in March–April 1990. Once he returned to Hungary, Béla Varga was welcomed as a respected elder statesman, and he focused mainly on public and political engagement. He also reconnected with Hungarian political and religious groups and then lived a quiet life in Veszprém, until his death in 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varga, Bela 1903 births 1995 deaths People from Győr-Moson-Sopron County 20th-century Hungarian Roman Catholic priests Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party politicians Speakers of the National Assembly of Hungary Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1945–1947)