György Lázár (; 15 September 1924 – 2 October 2014) was a Hungarian Communist politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1975 to 1987. He retired from politics in 1988.

Early life

He was born into a labour family in Isaszeg on 15 September 1924. His father was a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

. Lázár's original qualification was

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

. He worked as a technical draftsman from 1942 to 1944. During the Arrow Cross regime, he was forcibly conscripted into the paramilitary Levente organization in 1944. He was taken prisoner of war in January 1945. After that he joined the Hungarian combat units supported by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, which fought against the Nazi-backed

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 ...

in the western part of the country.

Political career

He joined

Hungarian Communist Party The Hungarian Communist Party (, , abbr. MKP), known earlier as the Party of Communists in Hungary (, , abbr. KMP), was a communist party in Hungary that existed during the interwar period and briefly after World War II. It was founded on Novem ...

(MKP) in 1945 and was also a member of its successor parties:

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) since 1948 and

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 ...

(MSZMP) since 1956. From 1948 he worked for the National Planning Board (OT), he became a Deputy Head of Department and Head of Department after 1953. He served as Vice Chairman of OT between 1958 and 1970. He was appointed to a member of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party in 1970 and served as Minister of Labour from 1970 to 1973. He became deputy prime minister and chairman of the National Planning Board in 1973 and also served as head of the State Planning Committee. Lázár functioned as Permanent Representative of Hungary to the

Council for Mutual Economic Assistance The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, often abbreviated as Comecon ( ) or CMEA, was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc along with a number of ...

between 1973 and 1975. After 11th Congress of the Party in March 1975 he was elected to a member of the Political Committee. Following the downfall and resignation of Jenő Fock he was appointed Prime Minister of Hungary (officially ''Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary''). He also became a member of the

National Assembly of Hungary The National Assembly ( ) is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 199 (386 between 1990 and 2014) members elected to four-year terms. Election of members is done using a semi-proportional representation: a mixed-member m ...

due elections in June. He is the third longest-serving Head of Government in

history of Hungary Hungary in its modern (post-1946) borders roughly corresponds to the Great Hungarian Plain (the Carpathian Basin) in Central Europe. During the Iron Age, it was located at the crossroads between the cultural spheres of Scythian tribes (such a ...

after

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been the 56th prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has also led the Fidesz political party since 200 ...

and

Kálmán Tisza Kálmán Tisza de Borosjenő (archaic English: Coloman Tisza, or Koloman Tisza; 16 December 1830 – 23 March 1902) was a Hungarian politician during the Austro-Hungarian empire who served as the Hungary, Hungarian prime minister between 18 ...

. His term lasting 12 years and 41 days from 15 May 1975 until 25 June 1987. He was called Secretary-General

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 ...

's "most loyal sidekick". György Lázár signed a treaty 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 ...

on 16 September 1977, which initiated the controversial large barrage project of Gabčíkovo–Nagymaros Dams. During his premiership, along with his deputies

Antal Apró Antal Apró (8 February 1913 – 9 December 1994) was a Hungarian Communist politician, who served as Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary between 1971 and 1984. Early life Born in Szeged, Apró was brought up in orphanages. He arrived ...

and György Aczél, he was a member of that delegation which took over the returned

Holy Crown The Holy Crown of Hungary ( , ), also known as the Crown of Saint Stephen, named in honour of Saint Stephen I of Hungary, was the coronation crown used by the Kingdom of Hungary for most of its existence; kings were crowned with it since the t ...

from U.S. Secretary of State

Cyrus Vance Cyrus Roberts Vance (March 27, 1917January 12, 2002) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 57th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980. Prior to serving in that position, he was the United ...

in the

Hungarian Parliament Building The Hungarian Parliament Building ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Budapest after its location, is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, a notable landmark of Hungary, and a popular tourist destination in Budapest. It is situated o ...

. In the summer of 1987, when the highest party and state offices' major personnel changes were made (although most senior official only got another post, the same cadres stayed), Lázár was appointed deputy secretary-general of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (i.e. deputy for Kádár).

Károly Grósz Károly Grósz (1 August 1930 – 7 January 1996) was a Hungarian communist politician, who served as the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party from 1988 to 1989. Early career Grósz was born in Miskolc, Hungary. He jo ...

succeeded him in the position of prime minister. The previous deputy secretary-general Károly Németh became chairman of the Hungarian Presidential Council following the retiring

Pál Losonczi Pál Losonczi (born Pál Laklia; 18 September 191928 March 2005) was a Hungarian communist political figure. He was Chairman of the Hungarian Presidential Council (i.e., titular head of state) from 1967 to 1987. Honours * : Knight Grand C ...

Retirement and later life

In May 1988 at the party's national conference, when Kádár was replaced, Lázár was one of the few ancient leaders who were not elected to the new Central Committee. He lost all of his party functions. Lázár was retired in 1988. Since then, he lived away from the public view. In 2011 the issue of the former communist leaders and senior officials' high state pensions were highlighted. His name appeared on '' Heti Válaszs list, as well as the names of Béla Biszku or István Kovács. He died on 2 October 2014 at the age of 90 in Budapest. He was buried without publicity, his family informed ''

Népszabadság ''Népszabadság'' (; ) was a major Hungarian newspaper which was formerly the official press organ of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party during the Hungarian People's Republic. Before its closure, ''Népszabadság'' was considered the '' d ...

'' on Lázár's death on 30 October 2014.

References

Sources

* Bölöny, József – Hubai, László: Magyarország kormányai 1848–2004 abinets of Hungary 1848–2004 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 2004 (5th edition).
Ezenanapon: Lázár György
(Hungarian)
Hungarian History, glossary, 1968–1990
(Hungarian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazar, Gyorgy 1924 births 2014 deaths People from Isaszeg Hungarian Communist Party politicians Members of the Hungarian Working People's Party Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Prime ministers of Hungary Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1975–1980) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1980–1985) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1985–1990) Soviet military personnel of World War II Hungarian prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union