Rezső Nyers is a former Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 politician, who served as Minister of Finance

Minister of Finance of Hungary

This page is a list of Ministers of Finance of Hungary. The ministry abolished on 29 May 2010.-Ministers of Finance, 1848-2010:-Hungarian Revolution of 1848:-Austria-Hungary:-Hungarian Democratic Republic :...

 between 1960 and 1962. For a few months in 1989, he was the country's last Communist leader.

Political career

Until 1944 he worked as a printer. He joined to the Social Democratic Party

Social Democratic Party (Hungary)

The Social Democratic Party often known as the "Historical" Social Democratic Party is a Hungarian political party that emerged following a split within the Hungarian Social Democratic Party in 1989...

 in 1940. After the unification of the SZDP and the MDP he served as substitute member of the party's Central Leadership. He became representative of the National Assembly of Hungary

National Assembly of Hungary

The National Assembly or Diet is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 386 members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is based on a complex system involving both area and list election; parties must win at least 5% of the popular vote in order to enter list members...

 in 1948 (until 1953). He was appointed head of a department of the Ministry of Domestic Commerce. In this same year he started his studies at the Karl Marx University of Economic Sciences

Corvinus University of Budapest

The Corvinus University of Budapest is one of the most prestigious Hungarian universities located in Budapest, Hungary. The university offers degrees in multiple disciplines, but it is characterised by its programmes in economics and management. -History:...

, beside this he was a student at the Kossuth Academy from 1954.

In 1954 he was elected member of the Central Leadership. During the András Hegedüs

András Hegedus

András Hegedüs was a Hungarian Communist politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1955 to 1956. Hegedüs fled to the Soviet Union on 28 October, the fifth day of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956...

 cabinet he served as Minister of Food Industry for a short time. He was member of the MSZMP's Central Committee from 1957 to 1989 and of the National Assembly from 1958 to 1989. Nyers drew up the contemporary economic reform package, the New Economic Mechanism

New Economic Mechanism

The New Economic Mechanism was a major economic reform launched in the People's Republic of Hungary in 1968.- Reform :The period from 1956–1968 was one of reform in Eastern Europe...

 with Prime Minister Jenő Fock

Jeno Fock

Jenő Fock 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....

. After the failure of the reforms (because of the conservatives' strengthening), he largely went into eclipse.

Nyers was appointed to the directorial post of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Hungarian Academy of Sciences

The Hungarian Academy of Sciences is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest.-History:...

' Economical Institute in 1974. That's why he resigned from all of his political positions (exclude MSZMP Central Committee). He became chairman of the Közgazdasági Szemles Editor Committee in 1976. Reform movements gained ground inside the party, so Nyers returned to prominence as part of a younger leadership. He served as chairman of the National Assembly's Reform Committee from 1987. In 1987 he became member of the government as Minister of State. In 1989, he was appointed as chairman of a four-member collective presidency of the MSZMP.

At its final congress in 1989, the MSZMP disbanded, and was reformed as the Hungarian Socialist Party

Hungarian Socialist Party

The Hungarian Socialist Party describes itself as a social democratic party in Hungary. It is the partial successor of the communist Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party , which ruled Hungary between 1956 and 1989. The decision to declare the party a successor of the MSZMP was controversial, and...

, with Nyers as its first chairman. His successor was Gyula Horn

Gyula Horn

Gyula Horn is a Hungarian politician and the third Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary, from 1994–1998....

 in 1990. Nyers was elected to parliament in the 1990 Hungarian parliamentary election

Hungarian parliamentary election, 1990

The 1990 Hungarian general election, which took place on March 25 and April 8 of that year, was the first free election to be held in the country since 1945, and only the third honest election in the country's history...

, serving until his retirement from politics in 1998.

Personal life

Widow, his wife died in 1988. Nyers has one child, Rezső Nyers Jr., who served as managing director of the Hungarian National Bank

Hungarian National Bank

The Hungarian National Bank is the central bank of Hungary. The principal aim of the bank is to retain price stability. It is also responsible for issuing the national currency, the forint, controlling the cash circulation, setting the Central Bank base rate, publishing official exchange rates...

.

Publications

• Szövetkezetek a magyar népi demokráciában (1959)
• A műszaki fejlesztés szerepe gazdaságpolitikánkban (1964)
• Gazdaságpolitikánk és a gazdasági mechanizmus reformja (1968)
• 25 kérdés és válasz gazdaságpolitikai kérdésekről (1969)
• A szocialista gazdasági integráció elvi és gyakorlati kérdései (1969)
• A jövedelmezőség és a jövedelemelosztás problémái hazánkban (1970)
• Szövetkezetpolitikánk kérdései (1970)
• Népgazdaságunk a szocializmus építésének útján (1970)
• Útkeresés – reformok (1988)
• Beszélgetések (with Tibor Huszár, 2004)