István Dobi

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István Dobi (December 31, 1898November 24, 1968) was a Hungarian politician.

Dobi was born in Szőny, Hungary. By the end of World War II he had become a member of the Smallholders Party, which achieved a majority in general elections. Dobi was a member of the left-wing faction of that party, and advocated cooperation with the communists. By 1948 when communism became completely established in Hungary, Dobi had left the Smallholders and joined the Communist Party. It is believed by some that Dobi was a Soviet agent for the entire time that he was in the Smallholders party.

Dobi immediately became a high-ranking communist. He served as prime minister of Hungary from December 10, 1948 until August 14, 1952 and chairman of the presidential council from 1952 until his retirement in April 1967. He was officially the second or third most powerful politician in Hungary, and supported the crushing of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He was a winner of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962. He died in Budapest.

Preceded by
Lajos Dinnyés
Prime Minister of Hungary
1948–1952
Succeeded by
Mátyás Rákosi
Preceded by
Sándor Rónai
Chairman of the Hungarian Presidential Council
1952–1967
Succeeded by
Pál Losonczi