Mihály Farkas (born Hermann Lőwy; 18 July 1904 – 6 December 1965) was a Hungarian Communist politician who served as

Minister of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

of the

Hungarian People's Republic The Hungarian People's Republic (HPR) was a landlocked country in Central Europe from its formation on 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Hungary, Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed Communist_state# ...

Biography

He was born in 1904 in

Abaújszántó Abaújszántó is a small town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary, about from the county seat Miskolc. It belongs to the famous Tokaj-Hegyalja wine district. Name The ''Abaúj-'' prefix refers to its location in Abaúj County, w ...

to Jewish parents, in the

Abaúj-Torna County Abaúj-Torna (, , ) was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its capital was Kassa (present-day Košice). Its territory is now divided between Hungary and Slovakia. Geography Around 1910 ...

of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, and became a Communist in the 1920s. He lived in

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

then. He fought in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

; later he moved 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 ...

. He returned to Hungary in late 1944 alongside other Hungarian communists and became a member of the Central Committee, the Political Committee and the Secretariat of the

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 ...

from May 1945. In 1945 he became under-secretary of Home Affairs. In 1946 he was elected deputy secretary and became the chairman of the party's Management Committee. He was Minister of National Defence from 9 September 1948 to 2 July 1953. He was one of the main instigators during the Rákosi era. In 1956 he was expelled from the party and convicted. He was released from prison in 1961 and spent his last years working as an editor and publisher in Budapest, where he died in 1965. His son

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

was a colonel of the

security police Security police usually describes a law enforcement agency which focuses primarily on providing security and law enforcement services to particular areas or specific properties. They may be employed by governmental, public, or private institutio ...

during the Rákosi era.

Awards

* Order of the Hungarian People's Republic 1st and 2nd Classes (1949) * Order of the Freedom Silver Class (1945) and Golden Class (1946) * Order of Kossuth 1st Class (1950) * Medal for Public Security Silver Grade (1947, awarded for the services as Ministry of the Interior State Security) * 1848-1948 Commemorative Medal * Medal "For the Victory Over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" * Merit of the Star of the Garibaldi Brigade (1945) * Military Order of the White Lion 2nd Class (1945)

References

Sources

* ''

Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon Magyar may refer to: * Hungarians * Hungarian language * Magyar tribes, fundamental political units of Hungarians between the period of leaving the Ural Mountains and the entrance of the Carpathian Basin * Magyar (surname), a common Hungarian ethn ...

1000–1990'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Farkas, Mihaly 1904 births 1965 deaths People from Abaújszántó Jewish Hungarian politicians Hungarian Communist Party politicians Members of the Hungarian Working People's Party Ministers of defence of Hungary Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1945–1947) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1947–1949) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1949–1953) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1953–1958) People of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Jewish socialists Jewish anti-fascists Burials at Farkasréti Cemetery