András Benkei (September 11, 1923 – August 8, 1991) was a Hungarian

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician, who served as

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

between 1963 and 1980.

Biography

Benkei was born in 1923 into a poor

day labour Day labor (or day labour in Commonwealth spelling) is work done where the worker is hired and paid one day at a time, with no promise that more work will be available in the future, and outside the protection of labor and civil rights laws. It i ...

er family. After finishing four elementary classes, he worked as a manual worker (engine fitter assistant, then tobacco fermenter) in

Nyíregyháza Nyíregyháza (, ) is a city with county rights in northeastern Hungary and the county capital of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. With a population of 118,001, it is the seventh-largest city in Hungary and the second largest in the Northern Great ...

. From August 1944, he served in the

Royal Hungarian Army The Royal Hungarian Army (, ) was the name given to the land forces of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary in the period from 1922 to 1945. Its name was inherited from the Royal Hungarian Honvéd which went under the same Hu ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was captured on the Eastern Front and deported to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

in January 1945. He returned to Hungary in July 1948, and soon he was involved in the tobacco fermenting trade union. He joined

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, Joh ...

(MDP), the ruling Communist party in 1950. He held several functions at party and trade union's organizations. He functioned as secretary of the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County committee of the Food Industry Workers' Union. From April 1954 to November 1956, he was the leader of the MDP in Nyíregyháza. Following the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 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 ...

, he served as First Secretary of the

Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (, , 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 People's Party during the Hungaria ...

's Szabolcs-Szatmár County branch between November 1956 and 7 December 1963. After that he was appointed Minister of the Interior in the Second Cabinet of

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

. Despite the lack of professional qualifications, Benkei held the office for 16 and a half years, until 27 June 1980. Thus he is the longest-serving Interior Minister since the establishment of the ministry during the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many Revolutions of 1848, European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in ...

. Benkei was one of the most faithful supporters of General Secretary and Prime Minister János Kádár. He studied for a year at the MSZMP's Party College. Beside his government position, Benkei was also a member of the Socialist Workers' Party's Central Committee from 25 December 1959 to 28 March 1985. Benkei was also a Member of Parliament three times (1958–1967, 1971–1975, 1980–1985), representing Szabolcs-Szatmár county list, Nyíregyháza (Constituency II) and the second district of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

(Budapest Constituency III), respectively. He became a pensioner in 1980.

Personal life

According to historians Tabajdi– Ungváry's ''Az elhallgatott múlt'' work, for most of his life, Benkei became a drunkard. József Végvári, an intelligence officer within the secret services, who allowed the infiltration of the case Duna-gate, said that both Benkei's son in law (Tamás Augusztini and Zoltán Nyitrai), and his daughter worked as a counterespionage officer in the III./II. section of the Ministry for Interior prior to 1989.MTI: Bemutatkozott a magyar Watergate-ügy kulcsfigurája (1990)
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References

External links

1923 births 1991 deaths People from Nyíregyháza Members of the Hungarian Working People's Party Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Ministers of the interior of Hungary Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1958–1963) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1963–1967) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1971–1975) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1980–1985) {{Hungary-politician-stub