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 ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

between 1967 and 1971.

Career

Vályi was born into a Jewish family in

Szombathely } Szombathely (; ; also see #Etymology, names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas County in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by the streams ''Perint'' and '' ...

, as the son of merchant Manó Vályi and Rózsa Pollák. His brothers were art historian Gábor Vályi (1922–2003) and trade manager Sándor Vályi (1924–2015). Vályi worked as a

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

. He was arrested in 1945 because of his communist activities. He joined 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 ...

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, c ...

. 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 1 ...

. 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 (, , 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 Hungarian R ...

'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 Miskolc ( , ; ; Czech language, Czech and ; ; ; ) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 as of 1 January 2014, Miskolc is the List of cities and towns in Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, ...

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 (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

. 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 various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

, 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 Deputy prime ministers of Hungary Finance ministers of Hungary Hungarian Communist Party politicians Jewish Hungarian politicians Accidental deaths in Hungary 20th-century Hungarian economists {{Hungary-politician-stub