This article is about the Prime Minister of Hungary. For his son see Sándor Wekerle Jr.

Sándor Wekerle Jr.

Sándor Wekerle the Younger was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Finance between 1928 and 1931. His father was Sándor Wekerle, who was the Prime Minister of Hungary at three times during the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Wekerle Jr. studied on the University of Budapest and other...

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Sándor Wekerle (14 November 1848, Mór – 26 August 1921, Budapest) was a Hungarian politician who served three times as prime minister.

He was born in Mór

Mór

Mór is a town in Fejér county, Hungary. Among the smaller towns in the middle Transdanubian region of Hungary, it lies between Vértes and Bakony Hills, in the northwestern corner of Fejér Country. The historic roots of the present town go back to the Celtic an Roman Period...

, in the comitatus of Fejér

Fejér

-Geography:Geographically Fejér county is very diverse, its southern part is similar to the Great Plain , other parts are hilly . Lake Velence, a popular resort can also be found here....

. His mother was Antónia Szép.After studying law at the University of Budapest he graduated doctor juris

Doctor of law

Doctor of Law or Doctor of Laws is a doctoral degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country, and includes degrees such as the LL.D., Ph.D., J.D., J.S.D., and Dr. iur.-Argentina:...

. He then entered the government service, and after a period of probation was appointed to a post in the ministry of finance. He still, however, continued an academic career by lecturing on political economy at the university.

In 1886 Wekerle was elected to the House of Deputies, became in the same year financial secretary of state, and in 1889 succeeded Kálmán Tisza

Kálmán Tisza

Kálmán Tisza de Borosjenő was the Hungarian prime minister between 1875 and 1890. He is credited for the formation of a consolidated Magyar government, the foundation of the new Liberal Party and major economic reforms that would both save and eventually lead to a government with popular...

 as minister of finance. He immediately addressed himself to the task of improving the financial position of the country, carried out the conversion of the state loans, and succeeded, for the first time in the history of the Hungarian budget, in avoiding a deficit.

In November 1892 Wekerle succeeded Count Gyula Szapáry as premier, though still retaining the portfolio of finance. At the head of a strong government he was enabled, in spite of a powerful opposition of Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

s and Magnate

Magnate

Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...

s, to carry in 1894 the Civil Marriage Bill. The continued opposition of the clerical party, however, brought about his resignation on 22 December 1894, when he was succeeded by Dezső Bánffy

Dezso Bánffy

Dezső Baron Bánffy de Losoncz was a Hungarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1895 to 1899.-Biography:...

. On 1 January 1897 he was appointed president of the newly created judicial commission at Budapest

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

, and for the next few years held aloof from politics, even under the ex-lex government of Khuen-Héderváry

Károly Khuen-Héderváry

Dragutin Károly Khuen-Héderváry, also known as Károly Count Khuen-Héderváry de Hédervár , was a Hungarian politician, the ban of Croatia in the late nineteenth century. He succeeded the temporary reign of Ban Hermann Ramberg in 1883. Khuen's reign was marked by a strong magyarization...

. On the reconciliation of the king-emperor with the coalition he was therefore selected as the most suitable man to lead the new government, and on 8 April 1906 was appointed prime minister, taking at the same time the portfolio of finance. He resigned the premiership on 27 April 1909, but was not relieved of his office until the formation of the Khuen-Héderváry cabinet on 17 January 1910.

Wekerle returned to power in 1917, and served for the last year of the First World War. As in his 1906 to 1910 ministry, Wekerle was largely acting as a figurehead for a coalition of stronger personalities around him. Although, towards its end, the ministry began to move in the direction of an expansion of the Hungarian franchise, events, particularly the imminent military defeat of Austria-Hungary and its allies, moved too fast for it, and Wekerle resigned in October 1918.

During the time of the Hungarian Soviet Republic

Hungarian Soviet Republic

The Hungarian Soviet Republic or Soviet Republic of Hungary was a short-lived Communist state established in Hungary in the aftermath of World War I....

, Wekerle was held prisoner as a hostage.

Legacy

In the south of Budapest, the notable Wekerle estate

Wekerle estate

The Wekerle estate is a part of Budapest's XIX. district . Kispest, formerly a suburb was administratively attached to Budapest in 1950 along with several other settlements of Greater Budapest....

 (Wekerletelep) neighbourhood is named after him. Built before World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, its central square was designed by the architect Károly Kós

Károly Kós

Károly Kós was a Hungarian architect, writer, illustrator, ethnologist and politician of Austria-Hungary and Romania.- Biography :...

. The neighbourhood provided affordable housing to working class families in a green, open and familiar setting. This was an early example of a planned residential neighbourhood in Europe.