István Kertész (later known as Stephen Denis Kertesz) (April 8, 1904–January 26, 1986) was a Hungarian diplomat who represented
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
during the peace talks following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Biography
He was born on April 8, 1904, in
Putnok
Putnok ( Slovak: ''Putnok/Putník'') is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary. It lies from Miskolc, between the Bükk Mountains and the river Sajó.
History
The area has been inhabited since Neolithic times. Until 1283 it wa ...
, Hungary, to Lajos and Mária (Stolcz) Kertesz. He received a Dr. Jur. from the
University of Budapest
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
in 1926, and a diploma from the
Institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales in Paris in 1928. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, worked in the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in 1943-1944, made efforts to convey the intentions of Admiral
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya (18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957) was a Hungarian admiral and statesman who was the Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary Hungary between the World Wars, during the ...
to surrender to the Allied powers in order to avoid further damage to the country.
After the war, Kertész opposed the Soviet takeover of Hungary and tried to avert the Allied demand to expel the German minority from Hungary. In 1946, Kertész represented the Hungarian government at the Paris Peace Conference. In March-August 1947, he served as Ambassador in Italy.
Smoking Hot: Hungarian Dragons and Chimneys with Dr. Kertész Pál
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In February 1948, he fled Hungary and emigrated to the United States, where he lectured on diplomacy and international relations.
Works
* Stephen Kertesz, ''Diplomacy in a Whirlpool'' (Greenwood Press, London 1974, reprint of the 1953 edition)
* Stephen Kertesz, ''Diplomacy in a Changing World'' (Greenwood Press, London 1974, reprint of the 1959 edition)
* Stephen Kertesz, “The Expulsion of the Germans from Hungary: A Study in Postwar Diplomacy”, ''The Review of Politics'', Vol. 15, no. 2 (April 1953) pp. 179–208
* Stephen Kertesz (ed.), ''Nuclear Non-Proliferation in a World of Nuclear Powers'' (Notre Dame, IN, 1967)
Stephen Kertesz, ''The Last European Peace Conference, Paris 1946, Conflict of Values'' (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1985)
* Stephen Kertesz, ''Between Russia and the West: Hungary and the Illusions of Peacemaking, 1945-1947'' (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1984)
Further reading
* Kenneth Thompson, ''Diplomacy and Values: The Life and Works of Stephen Kertesz in Europe and America'' (University Press of America, 1984)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kertesz, Istvan
1904 births
1986 deaths
Ambassadors of Hungary to Italy
Hungarian emigrants to the United States