Gergely Pongrátz

Gergely Pongrátz (Gherla, 18 February 1932 – Kiskunmajsa, 18 May 2005) was a Hungarian revolutionary and prominent veteran of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He was the commander of arguably the largest and perhaps the best-known group of fighters, at the revolution's strongest and most lengthy point of resistance, Budapest's Corvin Passage (Corvin Köz); between 1 and 9 November 1956. Under his command, the Corvin Passage fighters destroyed Soviet armored vehicles, and resisted several waves of assault. Following the conflict, Pongrátz escaped capture and by 1957 had moved to the United States where he spent the majority of his exile until returning to Hungary in 1991. During his exile he was elected both Vice-Chairman and then Chairman of the Hungarian Freedom Fighters' Association (Magyar Szabadságharcos Szövetség).

The Battle of the Corvin Passage

Armed civilians in the Corvin Cinema (the cylindrical building in the foreground of the picture) and surrounding buildings began to fight with the Soviet armoured forces as early as the night of 23–4 October. Taking advantage of the area’s excellent strategic conditions, the rebels of the Corvin Passage (Corvin Köz) soon became the Uprising's biggest and most important armed revolutionary group. Their valour was a decisive factor behind the favourable turn of events on 28 October.

The Corvin fighters were initially led by László Iván Kovács, with the young and charismatic Pongrátz taking command on 1 November. (24 at the time of the conflict he was nicknamed Bajusz, meaning "moustache.") Representatives of the Corvin Passage group negotiated several times with national political and military leaders during the ceasefire, and their influence on armed groups in their neighbourhood steadily increased.

Politics Following his return from exile in 1991, and in addition to his becoming president of the World Federation of Hungarians (Magyarok Világszövetsége), Pongrátz was a frequent and vocal critic of the successive Hungarian Socialist governments that came to power after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Despite the events of 1989, Pongrátz witnessed the democratic successor organization to the communist party of his youth continuing to be the dominant political force in Hungary.

Depressed by what he saw as the continued presence and pervasive influence of former Hungarian communists in the senior posts of government, commerce and public life; he became a leading figure in a new Hungarian nationalist movement, eventually participating in the foundation of a right-wing political party, the Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom).

Museum Pongrátz first founded a museum of the 1956 revolution in 1991. It was closed in 1995 after the local authorities wished to use the building for a different purpose. Pongrátz then purchased and renovated an old school building in Kiskunmajsa and turned it into the only museum of the 1956 Revolution that exists in Hungary.

Personal life In his book Corvin Köz 1956, Pongrátz wrote that his family was not only of Transylvanian background, but also Armenian. His ancestors had lived in Szamosújvár (today Gherla, Romania) since the 14th century. In so many words, he said that although he had Armenian blood flowing through his veins, in his heart he was a Hungarian patriot. He was married and had three children - one daughter and two sons.