Gyula Kelemen, 1897–1973
Born into a working-class family in Újpest, Gyula Kelemen completed four years of elementary school and a commercial course, before qualifying as an instrument maker. He joined the ironworkers’ trade union and the Hungarian Social Democratic Party in 1918. In 1919, he went to Paris for two years. On his return, he became involved in the labour movement again, and in 1929, he was elected onto the Újpest municipal assembly and the local-government committee of Pest County. In 1937, he became chairman of the Hungarian Social Democratic Party organization in Újpest. In the previous year, he had begun a three-year term as chairman of the Pest District Executive Committee of the party, and from 1937 to 1939, he was also a member of the National Executive Committee. After the Second World War, Kelemen continued to head the Újpest branch of the Social Democratic Party as its chairman. He joined the national party leadership on August 20, 1945, having been a member of the Újpest National Committee and representative assembly since spring of the same year. He also rejoined the county local-government committee. He was elected a member of the Provisional National Assembly in April 1945, and served as a member of Parliament from November 4, 1945 onwards. From June 8, 1945 to January 22, 1948, Kelemen was political state secretary at the Ministry of Industrial Affairs. He was then arrested on trumped-up charges and sentenced to life imprisonment by the people’s court. Publication of his sentence coincided with the Social Democratic Party congress that debated the fusion with the Hungarian Communist Party. He was given a reprieve in June 1956. On October 31, 1956, Kelemen was elected general secretary of the reconstituted Hungarian Social Democratic Party. He served in the government of Imre Nagy as state minister from November 2 to 4. On June 1, 1963, the Presidential Council of the Supreme Court, meeting in closed session, acquitted Kelemen of the charges made against him in 1948. After his rehabilitation, a house that had been confiscated was returned to him and he received a state pension. He lived the rest of his life in retirement, not dealing with politics, and died in Budapest in 1973.
Please send comments or suggestions.