István Kossa (31 March 1904 – 9 April 1965) was a Hungarian politician, who served as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

twice: between 1949–1950 and between 1956 and 1957. After the secondary grammar school's accomplishment he worked in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

as a

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

conductor. He joined to the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

in 1923. He took a part in the

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

opposition's fights actively as member of the left-wing Tram Alliance. He was elected to the position of the general secretary of the alliance in 1933. In this same year he was arrested along with other members of the leadership. Kossa was taken to the Eastern Front in 1942, where he and many other prisoners joined to the Soviet troops. In November 1944 he returned to home to make a connection with the

Hungarian Communist Party The Hungarian Communist Party ( hu, Magyar Kommunista Párt, abbr. MKP), known earlier as the Party of Communists in Hungary ( hu, Kommunisták Magyarországi Pártja, abbr. KMP), was a communist party in Hungary that existed during the interwar ...

and the Hungarian front. After the war Kossa led many offices (for example Council of the Trade Union). From 1945 he worked as a member of the

Hungarian Working People's Party The Hungarian Working People's Party (, abbr. MDP) was the ruling communist party of Hungary from 1948 to 1956. It was formed by a merger of the Hungarian Communist Party (MKP) and the Social Democratic Party of Hungary (MSZDP).Neubauer, John, ...

's Central Leadership and the

National Assembly of Hungary The National Assembly ( hu, Országgyűlés, lit=Country Assembly) is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 199 (386 between 1990 and 2014) members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is done using a semi-proport ...

. Kossa was appointed Minister of Industry on 5 August 1948, later served as Minister of Finance until 24 February 1950. From 5 January 1952 to 2 July 1953 he was the Minister of Metallurgical and Machine Industry. In 1955 he worked for the National Planning Board as first deputy chairman. From 24 October 1956 he served as Minister of Finance again. Until his retirement (1963) he was the Minister of Transport and Post. He was also member of the

Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt, MSZMP) was the ruling Marxist–Leninist party of the Hungarian People's Republic between 1956 and 1989. It was organised from elements of the Hungarian Working Peo ...

's Central Committee until his death.

References

Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon
1904 births 1965 deaths People from Balatonlelle People from the Kingdom of Hungary Social Democratic Party of Hungary politicians Hungarian Communist Party politicians Members of the Hungarian Working People's Party Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Finance ministers of Hungary Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1945–1947) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1947–1949) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1949–1953) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1953–1958) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1958–1963) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1963–1967) 20th-century Hungarian economists Conductor (rail) {{Hungary-politician-stub