Gyula Keleman

Gyula Keleman was born in Hungary in 1897. A mechanic he became involved in politics and joined the Social Democratic Party. After the Second World War he served as state secretary for industry (1945-48). He was arrested in 1948 after Matyas Rakosi gained power.

The Hungarian Uprising began on 23rd October by a peaceful manifestation of students in Budapest. The students demanded an end to Soviet occupation and the implementation of "true socialism". The following day commissioned officers and soldiers joined the students on the streets of Budapest. Stalin's statue was brought down and the protesters chanted "Russians go home", "Away with Gero" and "Long Live Nagy".

On 25th October Soviet tanks opened fire on protesters in Parliament Square. One journalist at the scene saw 12 dead bodies and estimated that 170 had been wounded. Shocked by these events the Central Committee of the Communist Party forced Erno Gero to resign from office and replaced him with Janos Kadar.

Imre Nagy now went on Radio Kossuth and promised the "the far-reaching democratization of Hungarian public life, the realisation of a Hungarian road to socialism in accord with our own national characteristics, and the realisation of our lofty national aim: the radical improvement of the workers' living conditions."

On 3rd November, Nagy announced details of his coalition government. It included Kelemen, Janos Kadar, George Lukacs, Anna Kethly, Zolton Tildy, Bela Kovacs, Geza Lodonczy, Istvan Szabo, Joseph Fischer, Istvan Bibo and Ferenc Farkas. On 4th November 1956 Nikita Khrushchev sent the Red Army into Hungary and Nagy's government was overthrown.

Gyula Keleman died in 1973.