János Gyöngyösi

János Gyöngyösi (born János Heller; 3 May 1893 – 29 October 1951) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1944 and 1947.

Biography Born 3 May 1893, in Berki, he fought in World War I. After the war, he worked as a journalist and finished his studies in the Budapest University (now Eötvös Loránd University). During the Second World War he was a reserve officer in Debrecen, near the Hungarian-Romanian border.

In 1931, Gyöngyösi joined the Smallholders Party. From 1944, he supported the Allies and the Red Army in his articles and called on the Hungarian home defence soldiers to capitulate. He became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the illegitimate Interim National Government. He could be minister because he was in good terms with leading politicians of the Soviet Union. However, Gyöngyösi realised the superpower's real intentions that helping Hungary may not be their best interests at heart. That's why he switched to strengthening ties with the Western powers (US, UK). In 1947, Gyöngyösi signed the Treaty of Paris. As a result, Hungary again lost large parts of its territory, for example Northern-Transylvania. Gyöngyösi's political career was doomed when Ferenc Nagy had to resign.