József Révai (born József Lederer'';'' 12 October 1898 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 ...

– 4 August 1959 in Budapest) was a Hungarian communist politician, statesman and cultural ideologue.

Life and career

Révai was born to a Jewish family.

Anne Applebaum Anne Elizabeth Applebaum (born July 25, 1964) is an American journalist and historian. She has written extensively about the history of Communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. She has worked at ''The Econ ...

, Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1945–56, 2012, , p. 144 He was one of the founders of the

Communist Party of Hungary 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 ...

''(Kommunisták Magyarországi Pártja; KMP)'' in 1918. Révai lived in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

between 1934 and 1944. From 11 May to 27 September 1945 he was a member of the

High National Council The High National Council ( hu, Nemzeti Főtanács) was the collective head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th ...

, and between 1945 and 1950 he was chief editor of ''Szabad Nép'' ("Free People"). Révai controlled all aspects of Hungary's cultural life from 1948 until 1953; from 1949 he was also the Minister of Culture. After 1953 his influence decreased. Between 1945–1956 he was a member of the Central Committee of his party, which was renamed in 1948 to

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, ...

''(Magyar Dolgozók Pártja; MDP)'' after merging with the Hungarian Social Democratic Party ''(Magyarországi Szociáldemokrata Párt, MSZDP)''. He was the member of the Political Committee (1945–1953; 1956). After the Workers' Party was dissolved and 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 ...

took over its role as the ruling Communist party, Révai became a member of the new party's Central Committee in 1957. He was vice-president to the Presidential Committee between 1953–1958. Révai died on August 4, 1959 after years of suffering from heart disease.

Works

* Ady (Budapest, 1945) * Marxizmus és magyarság ("Marxism and the Hungarians"; Budapest, 1946) * Marxizmus és népiesség ("Marxism and Popularism"; Budapest, 1946) * Élni tudunk a szabadsággal ("We Can Live with Freedom"; Budapest, 1949) * Kulturális forradalmunk kérdései ("Questions about our Cultural Revolution"; Budapest, 1952) * Válogatott irodalmi tanulmányok ("Selected Essays in Literature", Budapest, 1960) * Válogatott történelmi írások I–II. ("Selected Essays in History I–II."; Budapest, 1966).

Sources

* Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon 1000–1990 * Egyetemes Lexikon, Officina Nova Kiadó (1994).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Revai, Jozsef 1898 births 1959 deaths Politicians from Budapest category:People from the Kingdom of Hungary Jewish Hungarian politicians Hungarian Communist Party politicians Members of the Hungarian Working People's Party Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Culture 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)