Péter Vályi (25 December 1919 – 18 September 1973) was a Hungarian politician who had been the deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers, equivalent to Deputy Prime Minister from 1971 until his accidental death in 1973, and had 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", " ...

between 1967 and 1971.

Career

Vályi worked as a

chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...

. He was arrested in 1945 because of his communist activities. He joined the Hungarian Communist Party in the same year. From 1948 he worked for the

National Planning Board National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. From May 1971 onward he served as deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers (Deputy Prime Minister), second to Chairman

Jenő Fock 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 in 19 ...

. Vályi did considerable work in connection with the reform of the economic mechanism. He was a member of the

MSZMP 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 ...

's Central Committee from November 1970.

Death

Vályi died as the consequence of a fall suffered during a visit to the Lenin Metallurgical Works in Miskolc on 18 September 1973. In the most dangerous part of the factory he fell into the casting pit. His body was trapped between the molds and by the time he had been pulled out, his nylon suit had burnt onto his body. The CEO, who tried to help the deputy minister, also suffered burns. Vályi died in a hospital after long suffering. Many conspiracy theories have been published after the incident. The reformist politician could have stood in the way of the political leadership of the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

. A few days before Vályi's death, the Polish Deputy Prime Minister, who was also a

pro-Western The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

, died when hit by a car.

References

External links

Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon
* 1919 births 1973 deaths People from Szombathely Members of the Hungarian Working People's Party Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Finance ministers of Hungary Hungarian Communist Party politicians Jewish Hungarian politicians Accidental deaths in Hungary 20th-century Hungarian economists {{Hungary-politician-stub