Lajos Dinnyés

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Lajos Dinnyés (16 April 1901, Dabas (Alsódabas) - 1961) was a Hungarian politician of the Smallholders Party who served as the last non-communist prime minister of Hungary from 1947 to 1948.

He studied agriculture, and became a politician representing the Smallholders Party. Between 1931 and 1938, he served as a Member of Parliament representing Alsódabas. In March 1947, he bacame Minister of Defence in the government of Ferenc Nagy, the leader of the Smallholders Party. When Soviet-backed communists forced the Prime Minister into exile on 30 May 1947, Dinnyés was appointed as successor. In the so-called "Blue Papers Election" on 31 August 1947, the Smallholders Party came in second surpassed by the Communists. Dinnyés remained in office as Prime Minister throughout the year, but merely served as an obedient puppet in the hands of the Communist leader, Mátyás Rákosi. While retaining a nominal title as Prime Minister, Rákosi laid the foundations of the communist dictature by nationalizing factories, banks and denominational schools. He later became the director of the National Library of Agriculture and vice president of Parliament.

Preceded by Ferenc Nagy

Prime Minister of Hungary 1947–1948

Succeeded by István Dobi