Pál Teleki
Dr. Pál Teleki de Szék | |
|---|---|
Teleki in 1935 | |
| Prime Minister of Hungary | |
| In office 16 February 1939 – 3 April 1941 | |
| Regent | Miklós Horthy |
| Preceded by | Béla Imrédy |
| Succeeded by | László Bárdossy |
| In office 19 July 1920 – 14 April 1921 | |
| Regent | Miklós Horthy |
| Preceded by | Sándor Simonyi-Semadam |
| Succeeded by | István Bethlen |
| Minister of Religion and Education | |
| In office 14 May 1938 – 16 February 1939 | |
| Prime Minister | Béla Imrédy |
| Preceded by | Bálint Hóman |
| Succeeded by | Bálint Hóman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 November 1879 Budapest, Hungary |
| Died | 3 April 1941 (aged 61) Budapest, Hungary |
| Political party |
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| Spouse | Countess Johanna von Bissingen-Nippenburg |
| Children | 2, including Géza Teleki |
| Alma mater | University of Budapest (JD) Royal Hungarian Academy of Economics (PhD) |
| Signature | |
Count Pál János Ede Teleki de Szék (1 November 1879 – 3 April 1941) was a Hungarian politician who served as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1920 to 1921 and from 1939 to 1941. He was also an expert in geography, a university professor, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and chief scout of the Hungarian Scout Association. He descended from an aristocratic family from Transylvania.
Teleki tried to keep Hungary neutral during the early stages of the Second World War despite cooperating with Nazi Germany to regain Hungarian territory lost in the Treaty of Trianon. When Teleki learned that German troops had entered Hungary en route to invade Yugoslavia, effectively killing hopes of Hungarian neutrality, he committed suicide.
He is a controversial figure in Hungarian history because as prime minister he tried to preserve Hungarian autonomy under difficult political circumstances, but also proposed and enacted far-reaching anti-Jewish laws.