János Berecz (18 September 1930 – 7 July 2022) was a Hungarian
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
politician and ideologist, a leading member of the ruling
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 Peop ...
(MSZMP) in the 1980s. Along with
Károly Grósz
Károly Grósz (1 August 1930 – 7 January 1996) was a Hungary, Hungarian communism, communist politician, who served as the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party from 1988 to 1989.
Early career
Grósz was born in Misko ...
, he represented the party's hard-line
Marxist-Leninist branch and was considered a potential candidate to succeed
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 le ...
as General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party.
Early life
János Berecz was born into farming peasant family in
Ibrány
Ibrány is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary.
Geography
It covers an area of and has a population of 6751 people (2015).
Twin towns – sister cities
Ibrány is twinned with:
* ...
in
Szabolcs County
Szabolcs was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now part of Hungary, except for three villages which are in the Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine. The capital of the county ...
on 18 September 1930, as the son of Elek Berecz and Emília K. Fekete. He attended elementary school in his birthplace (six-grade primary) and
Dombrád
Dombrád is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary.
Etymology
The name comes from a Slavic languages, Slavic personal name, compare with Czech language, Czech ''Domorád'', ''Domorod'' or ...
(four-grade state civil school) until 1946. He attended the Reformed Gymnasium of
Sárospatak
Sárospatak (german: Potok am Bodroch; la, Potamopolis; sk, Šarišský Potok or ; ) is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, northern Hungary. It lies northeast from Miskolc, in the Bodrog river valley. The town, often called simply ''Pat ...
from 1946, then Kossuth Lajos Gymnasium of
Sátoraljaújhely
Sátoraljaújhely (; archaic german: Neustadt am Zeltberg ; sk, Nové Mesto pod Šiatrom; yi, איהעל, Ihel, or ) is a town located in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county in northern Hungary along the Slovak border. It is east from the county ...
from 1949. He graduated from there in 1950. He attended the Faculty of Arts of the
University of Debrecen
ThUniversity of Debrecen( hu, Debreceni Egyetem) is a university located in Debrecen, Hungary. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest continuously operating institution of higher education in Hungary ever since its ...
since 1950.
[Nemzeti Emlékezet Bizottsága]
/ref>
Berecz became a secretary of the Association of Working Youth (DISZ) within the university. He joined 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, a ...
(MDP) in 1951. He studied scientific socialism
Scientific socialism is a term coined in 1840 by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his book ''What is Property?'' to mean a society ruled by a scientific government, i.e., one whose sovereignty rests upon reason, rather than sheer will: Thus, in a given ...
in the Eötvös Loránd University
Eötvös Loránd University ( hu, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, ELTE) is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in Hung ...
since that year, then he was a student of the Lenin Institute, which emerged from ELTE, until 1955. He served as secretary of the youth communist organization DISZ within the institute and in charge of agitation and propaganda of its party committee.[
]
Early career
After earning a degree of scientific socialism, Berecz was delegated to the 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 ...
central committee of the DISZ as a political associate in 1955. In this capacity, he supervised the ideological operations of the University of Theatre Arts, the Academy of Music, the University of Fine Arts and the University of Applied Arts
A university of applied sciences (UAS), nowadays much less commonly called a polytechnic university or vocational university, is an institution of higher education and sometimes research that provides vocational education and grants academic de ...
.[ Shortly after suppression of the ]Hungarian Revolution of 1956
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...
, Berecz joined the legal successor Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP) and later its youth branch Hungarian Young Communist League
, colorcode = red
, logo = Insignia Hungary Political History KISZ.svg
, caption = Emblem
, logo2 =
, caption2 =
, founded = 21 March 1957
, dissolved = 22 April 1989
, headquarters = Budapest, Hungari ...
(KISZ). As a member of the Association of Hungarian University and College Students, he helped to drift the newly founded advocacy organization under the MSZMP in early 1957. Berecz was appointed president of the pro-communist Hungarian National Student Committee in the spring of 1958. He headed the university and Secondary School Department of the Central Committee of KISZ since September 1958. He established prosperous political relations with KISZ leader Zoltán Komócsin in this capacity.[
Berecz studied in the Academy of Social Sciences of the Central Committee of the ]Communist Party of the Soviet Union
"Hymn of the Bolshevik Party"
, headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow
, general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last)
, founded =
, banned =
, founder = Vladimir Lenin
, newspaper ...
in Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
from 1963 to 1966. He defended his dissertation in 1967, earning candidate of historical sciences academic degree. His academic work titled ''Ellenforradalom tollal és fegyverrel'' ("A Counter-revolution with Pen and Gun"), which was published in 1969, was considered the scientific foundation of the "canonized" position of the Kádár regime on the events of 1956 until the dissolution of the Hungarian People's Republic
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 Uni ...
in 1989.[
]
Party career
Returning to Hungary, Berecz entered foreign service. He functioned as Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since August 1966. In this capacity, he participated in preparation for opening diplomatic relations with West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
and preliminary negotiations of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...
in August 1968. He was appointed deputy head (since 1972), then head (from 1974 to 1982) of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Central Committee of MSZMP. He was elected to the central committee in March 1980. He worked as editor-in-chief of ''Népszabadság
''Népszabadság'' (; means "Liberty of the People") was a major Hungarian newspaper which was formerly the official press organ of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party during the Hungarian People's Republic.
History and profile
''Népsza ...
'' from 1982 to 1985.[
Berecz rose to prominence in the spring of 1985, when hard-line branch of the ruling party obtained important positions. He was delegated to the Secretariat of the Central Committee in March 1985, in charge of agitation and propaganda. Succeeding György Aczél, he was responsible for the task of censoring opposition writers. Berecz was also elected a Member of Parliament for ]Gávavencsellő
Gávavencsellő is a village in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. The village was established in 1971 by merging the former separate villages of Gáva and Vencsellő.
Geography
It covers an ...
( Szabolcs-Szatmár 6th constituency) in the 1985 Hungarian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 8 June 1985.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p899 The Patriotic People's Front, dominated by the Communist Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, was the ...
.Upon the request of János Kádár, Berecz was elected to the Political Committee of the MSZMP in June 1987. In the subsequent years, he became a close associate of 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 is not ...
then general secretary Károly Grósz. Due to his staunch Marxist–Leninist politician positions, he was gradually marginalized within the party, when a peaceful transition to democracy began. He was not re-elected to the Political Committee in April 1989, then was replaced as secretary for ideology and propaganda in June 1989. He chaired the parliament's foreign affairs committee from June 1989 to May 1990.[
]
Later life
When the last congress of MSZMP decided to abolish and reorganize itself into the Hungarian Socialist Party
The Hungarian Socialist Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Párt), commonly known by its acronym MSZP, is a centre-left social-democratic and pro-European political party in Hungary.
It was founded on 7 October, 1989 as a post-communist evolution a ...
(MSZP) in December 1989, Berecz was among those hard-line communists, who did not join the new social democratic party and established its "intellectual successor", also called the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (the present-day Hungarian Workers' Party
The Hungarian Workers' Party ( hu, Magyar Munkáspárt) is a communist party in Hungary led by Gyula Thürmer. Established after the fall of the communist Hungarian People's Republic, the party has yet to win a seat in the Hungarian parliament. ...
). Berecz was announced to become leader of the 20-member caucus in the parliament, serving in this capacity from December 1989 to May 1990.[ Berecz ran as a candidate in the ]1990 Hungarian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 25 March 1990, with a second round of voting taking place in all but five single member constituencies on 8 April. They were the first completely free and competitive elections to be held in the coun ...
, but did not secure a mandate and the MSZMP under the leadership of Gyula Thürmer
Gyula Thürmer (born 14 April 1953) is a Hungarian communist politician and a former diplomat, who has been the chairman of the Hungarian Workers' Party
The Hungarian Workers' Party ( hu, Magyar Munkáspárt) is a communist party in Hungary ...
did not reach the parliamentary threshold too. He left the party in 1991 and was a vocal supporter of the Left Wing Unity Movement. He was briefly a member of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary
The Social Democratic Party of Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Szociáldemokrata Párt, MSZDP) is a social democratic political party in Hungary. Historically, the party was dissolved during the occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany (1944–1945) ...
(MSZDP) between 1997 and 1999.[
Berecz then retired and wrote several books. His autobiographical work ''Vállalom'' ("I maintain") was published in 2004. In 2003, he was elected honorary citizen in his native village of Ibrány.]
Personal life
His first wife was Annamária Lőwinger (1933–1986), deputy director of the National General Directorate of Spas. They married in 1955. They had three children, including diplomat Marianne Berecz. Annamária Lőwinger died in a car accident on 4 February 1986. Thereafter, Berecz married actress Anikó Sáfár
Anikó is a Hungarian female given name, derived from Anna.
Variant forms
Alternate forms of Anikó:
*Anka
*Annika
*Anda
*Anett
*Anica
*Anika
*Anita
People
* Anikó Kapros, Professional Hungarian tennis player
*Anikó Pelle, International ...
in 1988.
János Berecz died in Budapest on 7 July 2022, at the age of 91.
References
Bibliography
*Elek, István: ''Rendszerváltoztatók húsz év után'', Magyar Rádió Zrt. és Heti Válasz Lap- és Könyvkiadó Kft., 2009. (interview, pp. 256–263.)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berecz, Janos
1930 births
2022 deaths
People from Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County
University of Debrecen alumni
Eötvös Loránd University alumni
Members of the Hungarian Working People's Party
Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party
Hungarian Workers' Party politicians
Social Democratic Party of Hungary politicians
Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1985–1990)