Miklós Antal Imre Takács de Saár (

Szombathely } Szombathely (; ; also see #Etymology, names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas County in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by the streams ''Perint'' and '' ...

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 ...

, 1906 – Szombathely, 1967) was a Hungarian

silviculturist Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, as well as quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production. The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests ...

and

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

politician. He was a member of the

Takács de Saár Takács de Saár (in Hungarian: ''saári Takács'') is a Hungarian noble family. The family members mainly lived in Vas and Sopron counties and had their seat in Saár village, which since 1912 is a district of Sárvár Sárvár ( or ; ; ) is a ...

family. Takács studied at the Academy of Forestry in

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

and after his graduation worked as forest inspector first in

Csepreg Csepreg (German: ''Schapring; Croatian: Čepreg'') is a town in Vas County, 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, Ukrain ...

, then in

Kőszegpaty Kőszegpaty is a village in Vas county, 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 ea ...

Nemescsó Nemescsó ( Croatian and ) is a village in Vas county, 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, ...

Pusztacsó Pusztacsó is a village in Vas county, 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 ...

and Benkeháza. Between the world wars he published a number of articles and essays on forestry and beekeeping in Hungarian and German periodicals. In 1945, when

Ferenc Szálasi's government The Government of National Unity was a Nazi-backed puppet government of Hungary, which ruled the German-occupied Kingdom of Hungary during World War II in Eastern Europe. After the joint ''coup d’état'' with which the Nazis and the Arrow Cro ...

had its headquarters around

Kőszeg Kőszeg (; ; ; ; ) is a town in Vas County, Hungary. The town is known for its historical character. History Medieval Period The origins of the only free royal town in the historical garrison county of Vas (Eisenburg) go back to the third quart ...

, Takács managed to save the lives of many Jews and prisoners of war. Upon the end of World War II, Takács became a member of the

Hungarian Social Democratic Party The Social Democratic Party of Hungary (, , MSZDP) is a social democratic political party in Hungary. Historically, the party was dissolved during the occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany (1944–1945) and the communist period of Hungary from ...

and took part in elaboration of the

agrarian reform in Hungary In the Hungarian People's Republic, agricultural collectivization was attempted a number of times in the late 1940s, until it was finally successfully implemented in the early 1960s. By consolidating individual landowning farmers into agricultural c ...

. In 1948 due to his commitment to democracy and rule of law Miklós Takács (along with

Anna Kéthly Anna Kéthly (16 November 1889 – 7 September 1976) was a Hungarian social democratic politician, second female member of the National Assembly of Hungary (1922-1948) and minister during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Her fellow party memb ...

) was expelled from the Social Democratic Party which was under pressure to form a union with the Communists, an option strongly opposed by Takács and other right-wing Social Democrats. During the 1950s he was several times arrested and tortured by the

State Protection Authority The State Protection Authority (, ÁVH) was the secret police of the People's Republic of Hungary from 1945 to 1956. The ÁVH was conceived as an external appendage of the Soviet Union's KGB in Hungary responsible for supporting the ruling Hu ...

. During the

1956 revolution The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

Takács took part in the reorganization of the independent Social Democratic Party, for which he was arrested after the fall of the revolution. Takács died in 1967 in his town of birth.

Sources

* Népszava * Kőszeg és Vidéke {{DEFAULTSORT:Takacs, Miklos Miklos People from Szombathely Social Democratic Party of Hungary politicians People of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 1906 births 1967 deaths