Jenő Fock (; 17 May 1916 – 22 May 2001) was a Hungarian Communist politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary from 1967 to 1975.

Career

Fock joined 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 ...

in 1932. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he was imprisoned for his Communist activities from 1940 to 1943. After the founding of the

People's Republic of Hungary The Hungarian People's Republic ( hu, Magyar Népköztársaság) was a one-party socialist state from 20 August 1949 to 23 October 1989. It was governed by the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, which was under the influence of the Soviet U ...

on 20 August 1949, he participated in communist governance from 1952 to 1954 as Minister for Steel Industry. In 1957 he became secretary of the Central Committee 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 ...

(MSZMP) and in 1961, he served as Deputy Prime Minister. From 1957 to 1980, he was also a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee. Jenő Fock & Nicolae Ceaușescu

On 14 April 1967, he became the successor of

Gyula Kállai Gyula Kállai (; 1 June 1910 – 12 March 1996) was a Hungarian Communist politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary from 1965 to 1967 and as Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary 19 ...

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. During his tenure, he unsuccessfully tried to introduce some market economy elements. Formerly the Central Committee of the MSZMP announced

János Kádár János József Kádár (; ; 26 May 1912 – 6 July 1989), born János József Czermanik, was a Hungarian communist leader and the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, a position he held for 32 years. Declining health l ...

’s plans for the reform of the economy, known as the

New Economic Mechanism The New Economic Mechanism (NEM) ( hu, Új gazdasági mechanizmus) was a major economic reform launched in the People's Republic of Hungary in 1968. Between 1972 and 1978, it was curtailed by the prevailing winds of Eastern Bloc politics. During th ...

(NEM).Balassa, Bela. ''The Economic Reform in Hungary''. Economica, New Series, Vol. 37, No. 145. (Feb., 1970), pp 1–22. The reform is considered as "the most radical postwar change" of any Comecon country.Granick, David. ''The Hungarian Economic Reform''. World Politics, Vol. 25, No. 3. (Apr., 1973), pp. 414–429. The plan, which became official on 1 January 1968, was a major shift to decentralization in an attempt to overcome the inefficiencies of central planning. The NEM represented a move away from the

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

economic system of compulsory plan indicators in favor of a policy that states profits as the enterprises main goal. The new economic policy was a "comprehensive reform of the economic system", creating market relationships among companies, using prices as allocative functions and companies responding to prices to maximize profits, and using profits to budget new investments. These attempts failed, because of the resistance from the Comecom states and 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, ...

. As a result, Fock finally withdrew in favor of

György Lázár György Lázár (; 15 September 1924 – 2 October 2014) was a Hungarian Communist politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1975 to 1987. He retired from politics in 1988. Early life He was born into a labour family i ...

on 15 May 1975. Between 1945–1947, 1958–1967 and 1971–1985 he was a deputy in 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 ...

. Later he was president of the ''Association of Technical and Professional Societies (MTESZ)''.

Publications

* ''A szocializmus építésének gazdaságpolitikája''. Kossuth, Budapest, 1973.

Death

Fock died 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 ...

on 22 May 2001, five days after his 85th birthday.

References

Sources

* ''Akadémiai kislexikon I. (A–K).'' ed. Mihály Beck, Vilmos Peschka. Budapest. Akadémiai Kiadó. 1989. __NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Fock, Jeno 1916 births 2001 deaths Politicians from Budapest Hungarian Communist Party politicians Members of the Hungarian Working People's Party Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Prime Ministers of Hungary Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1945–1947)