Ferenc Münnich

Ferenc Münnich (18 November 1886 – 29 November 1967) was a Hungarian Communist politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary from 1958 to 1961.

Of German descent, he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army in World War I, and fought in the Eastern front, stationed at Sighetu Marmației, where he received a decoration for bravery and was promoted to a major. His unit was captured in October 1915 and were deported to a prisoner of war camp in Tomsk, Siberia. While in Tomsk, Münnich joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, then served as a commander of an international POW unit fighting for the Bolsheviks. In 1918 he became a regimental commander, but returned to Hungary in September 1918 to help form the Hungarian Communist Party. Ferenc headed the Organization Department of the War Commissariat for the Hungarian Soviet Republic, and then became a war commissar for the Slovak Soviet Republic. After the dissolution of the HSR, he joined Béla Kun's faction and participated in the March Action in the Weimar Republic, which led to his arrest and deportation back to Hungary. Münnich resided in the Soviet Union from 1922-1936, and joined the board of the Hammer and Sickle magazine (Sarló és Kalapács (folyóirat) [hu]), also serving as the editor from 1931-1933.