Bálint Hóman (29 December 1885 – 2 June 1951) was a Hungarian scholar and politician who served as Minister of Religion and Education twice: between 1932 and 1938 and between 1939 and 1942. He died in prison in 1951 for his support of the fascistic invasion of the Soviet Union and antisemitic legislation activity as part of the Axis alliance in

World War II 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 ...

Academic career

He was born into a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family. He finished his studies in

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 ...

. He started his career when he was still a student, working for the University Library of Budapest. He was appointed director of the National Széchényi Library in 1922, and of the Hungarian National Museum in 1923, a position he held until 1932. Hóman produced several serious scholarly works. The centre of his research was the history of the Hungarian nation during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Initially he dealt with

economic history Economic history is the study of history using methodological tools from economics or with a special attention to economic phenomena. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the Applied economics ...

social history Social history, often called history from below, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. Historians who write social history are called social historians. Social history came to prominence in the 1960s, spreading f ...

and the auxiliary sciences of history. He wrote about Hungarian towns during the Árpád era, social classes, the first state tax and about the Magyar tribes who migrated to the Carpathian Basin. He authored a massive work entitled ''History of the Hungarian Currency 1000–1325'', in which he systematized the Hungarian currency during the Middle Ages' chronology, metrology and history. His other key solo publication was ''The Finance, Affairs and Economic Policy of the Kingdom of Hungary During the Reign of Charles Robert.'' He published many essays and books together with fellow scholar Gyula Szekfű. Their most prominent work was a well-regarded ''Hungarian History.'' According to Hóman's point of view, it was necessary in this historical analysis to consider the ancient Hungarian words, the Sumerian and Hattian– Hurrian literary monuments.

Political career

Hóman rose as part of the increasingly pro-German orientation of Hungarian politics in the 1930s. He served as Minister of Religion and Education in the cabinet of Gyula Gömbös and Kálmán Darányi. After a one-year gap he was again appointed a minister. He was the deputy chairman of the Party of National Unity beginning in 1938. In the government, he was a vocal proponent of anti-Jewish actions, and sponsored a law to revoke the status of Hungarian Jewish groups.

"He remained opposed to national socialism and did not take an oath of allegiance to Arrow Cross leader Ferenc Szálasi despite his anti-Semitic views. He is also reported to have personally intervened to save a number of Jewish intellectuals and artists from deportation in the spring and summer of 1944."

He opposed the peace negotiations of 1943 with the western allies that would have removed Hungary from the Axis alliance. He chose to remain in the legislature after the German occupation (March 1944) and the coup d'état of the Arrow Cross Party (October 1944). During the brief period of German rule and that of their allies in the Arrow Cross, Hóman co-signed a document with other legislators that called for the expulsion of Hungary's Jews; over a half million were quickly sent to Nazi death camps, including Auschwitz, where most perished. When the Red Army crossed the Hungarian border in December 1944, he fled to Transdanubia along with Arrow Cross Party members (including party leader Ferenc Szálasi). Later he escaped to Germany, but the American troops captured him. In 1946, the People's Tribunal sentenced Hóman to life imprisonment on war crimes charges, chiefly connected to his vote in the legislature in favor of Hungary's role in the Nazi Germany-led invasion of the USSR. Hóman was imprisoned in Vác, where he sickened quickly after the trials. According to reports, he lost 60 kilograms of body weight during a short time.

Death and legacy

Hóman died in prison on 2 June 1951. On 6 March 2015 Hóman was rehabilitated after a ruling by the Metropolitan Court of

, which found that the original trial had inadequate evidence. A private foundation proposed building a life-size bronze statue of Hóman in

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

. European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor condemned the project as "a shocking display of insensitivity towards the Jewish people", and US and other diplomats joined a rally against the statue. The US government urged Hungarian officials to block what press reports termed the 'anti-Semitic' statue, pointing out that government funds were being used to pay part of its costs. After protests by the Jewish community, city government voted to scrap plans for the statue.

Publications

* ''A magyar városok az Árpádok korában'' ungarian towns during the Árpád era(Budapest, 1908) * ''Magyar pénztörténet 1000–1325'' istory of the Hungarian Currency 1000–1325(Budapest, 1916) * ''A magyar királyság pénzügyei és gazdaságpolitikája Károly Róbert korában'' he finance affairs and economic policy of the Kingdom of Hungary during the reign of Charles Robert(Budapest, 1921) * ''A Szent László-kori Gesta Ungarorum és a XII–XIII. századi leszármazói'' he Saint Ladislaus aged Gesta Hungarorum and its ancestors of the 12th–13th century(Budapest, 1925) * ''A magyar hun hagyomány és hun monda'' he Hungarian Hunnic tradition and Hunnic legend(Budapest, 1925) * ''A forráskutatás és forráskritika története'' istory of the source research and source criticism(Budapest, 1925) * ''Magyar történet'' ungarian History(1458-ig, a továbbiakat Szekfű Gyula írta; Budapest, é. n. ) * ''Egyetemes történet'' orld history(I–IV. Szerk.: H. B., Szekfű Gyula, Kerényi Károly; Budapest, 1935–1937) * ''Ősemberek – Ősmagyarok'' rehistoric men – Prehistoric Hungarians(Atlanta, 1985) * ''A történelem útja. Válogatott tanulmányok'' he way of the history. Selected studies(Vál.: Buza János; Budapest, 2002)

References

Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Homan, Balint 1885 births 1951 deaths Antisemitism in Hungary Hungarian collaborators with Nazi Germany Hungarian nationalists Hungarian people of World War II Hungarian people who died in prison custody Hungarian people convicted of war crimes Hungarian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners and detainees of the United States military Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Hungary Prisoners who died in Hungarian detention Ministers of education of Hungary Politicians from Budapest Historians of Hungary 20th-century Hungarian historians