List of heads of state of Hungary

President of the Republic of Hungary Magyarország köztársasági elnöke
Standard of the President
Incumbent János Áder since 10 May 2012
Residence	Sándor Palace Budapest, Hungary
Appointer	National Assembly
Term length	Five years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	Mátyás Szűrös
Formation	23 October 1989
Website	The Office of the President of the Republic: keh.hu (in Hungarian; at October 2012, home page offered link to English module)

For earlier rulers, see Grand Prince of the Hungarians, King of Hungary and List of Hungarian monarchs

This is a list of heads of state of Hungary from the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 until the present day.

Currently, the head of state of Hungary is the President of the Republic (Hungarian: köztársasági elnök), elected by the members of the National Assembly every five years, and he or she has a largely ceremonial role. By the Constitution of Hungary, based on the post-World War II Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hungarian Prime Minister has a leading role in the executive branch as he selects Government ministers and has the exclusive right to dismiss them.

The current President of the Republic is János Áder, who took office on 10 May 2012.

Heads of State of Hungary (1848–present)

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (1848–1849)

Parties   Opposition Party

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political Party	Position(s)
1		Lajos Kossuth (1802–1894)	14 April 1849	11 August 1849	Opposition Party	Governor-President Also Prime Minister until 1 May 1849
		Artúr Görgey (1818–1916)	11 August 1849	13 August 1849	Revolutionary Army	Acting civil and military authority

After the collapse of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, Hungary became an integral part of the Austrian Empire until 1867, when dual Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was created.

Kingdom of Hungary during Austria-Hungary (1867–1918)

Hungarian Democratic Republic (1918–1919)

Parties   F48P–Károlyi

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political Party	Position(s)
1		Mihály Károlyi (1875–1955)	16 November 1918	21 March 1919	F48P–Károlyi	President of the Republic Also Prime Minister until 11 January 1919

Hungarian Soviet Republic (1919)

Parties   MSZP/SZKMMP   MSZDP

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political Party	Position(s)
1		Sándor Garbai (1879–1947)	21 March 1919	1 August 1919	MSZP/SZKMMP	Chairman of the Central Executive Council
		Gyula Peidl (1873–1943)	1 August 1919	6 August 1919 (deposed)	MSZDP	Acting Head of State Also Prime Minister

Hungarian Republic (1919–1920)

Parties   KNEP   Independent

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political Party	Position(s)
1		Archduke Joseph August (1872–1962)	7 August 1919	23 August 1919	Independent (Regent)	Regent of Hungary
		István Friedrich (1883–1951)	23 August 1919	24 November 1919	KNP → KNEP	Acting Head of State Also Prime Minister
		Károly Huszár (1882–1941)	24 November 1919	1 March 1920	KNEP

Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)

  Independent

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political Party	Position(s)
2		Miklós Horthy (1868–1957)	1 March 1920	15 October 1944	Independent (Regent)	Regent of Hungary

Government of National Unity (1944–1945)

Parties   Arrow Cross Party

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political Party	Position(s)
1		Ferenc Szálasi (1897–1946)	16 October 1944	28 March 1945	Arrow Cross Party	Leader of the Nation De facto, appointed by the Germans Also Prime Minister

Soviet-backed provisional governments (1944–1946)

Parties   Independent

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political Party	Position(s)
		Béla Miklós (1890–1948)	21 December 1944	25 January 1945	Independent	Head of State Also Prime Minister In opposition
		High National Council	26 January 1945	1 February 1946	Multi-party	Collective Head of State In opposition to 28 March 1945

Hungarian Republic (1946–1949)

Parties   FKGP   MKP-MDP

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political Party	Position(s)
1		Zoltán Tildy (1889–1961)	1 February 1946	3 August 1948	FKGP	President of the Republic
2		Árpád Szakasits (1888–1965)	3 August 1948	23 August 1949	MDP

Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989)

Chairman of the Presidential Council

Parties   MDP-MSZMP   Independent

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political Party	Position(s)
1		Árpád Szakasits (1888–1965)	23 August 1949	26 April 1950	MDP	Chairman of the Presidential Council
2		Sándor Rónai (1892–1965)	8 May 1950	14 August 1952
3		István Dobi (1898–1968)	14 August 1952	25 October 1956
(3)			25 October 1956	14 April 1967	MSZMP
4		Pál Losonczi (1919–2005)	14 April 1967	25 June 1987
5		Károly Németh (1922–2008)	25 June 1987	29 June 1988
6		Brunó Ferenc Straub (1914–1996)	29 June 1988	23 October 1989	Independent

General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party

Parties   MDP-MSZMP

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political Party	Notes
1		Mátyás Rákosi (1892–1971)	February 1945	18 July 1956	MDP	Also Prime Minister (1952–1953)
2		Ernő Gerő (1898–1980)	18 July 1956	25 October 1956
3		János Kádár (1912–1989)	25 October 1956	27 May 1988	MSZMP	Also Prime Minister (1956–1958 and 1961–1965)
4		Károly Grósz (1930–1996)	27 May 1988	7 October 1989		Also Prime Minister (1987–1988)
5		Rezső Nyers (1923–)	26 June 1989	7 October 1989		Party President; outranked Grósz after 26 June

Hungary (1989–present)

Parties   MSZMP-MSZP   SZDSZ   Fidesz   Independent

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political Party	Position(s)	Term (Election)
—		Mátyás Szűrös (1933–)	23 October 1989	2 May 1990	MSZP	Provisional President of the Republic	—
—		Árpád Göncz (1922–2015)	2 May 1990	3 August 1990	SZDSZ	Acting President of the Republic	—
1			4 August 1990	4 August 1995		President of the Republic	1 (1990)
			4 August 1995	4 August 2000			2 (1995)
2		Ferenc Mádl (1931–2011)	4 August 2000	5 August 2005	Independent		3 (2000)
3		László Sólyom (1942–)	5 August 2005	6 August 2010			4 (2005)
4		Pál Schmitt (1942–)	6 August 2010	2 April 2012 (resigned)	Fidesz		5 (2010)
—		László Kövér (1959–)	2 April 2012	10 May 2012		Acting President of the Republic	—
5		János Áder (1959–)	10 May 2012	Incumbent		President of the Republic	6 (2012)

Living former heads of state

There are three living former Hungarian Presidents and one living General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party:

• 

  Rezső Nyers
  (1989)
  March 21, 1923
• 

  Mátyás Szűrös
  (1989–1990)
  September 11, 1933
• 

  László Sólyom
  (2005–2010)
  January 3, 1942
• 

  Pál Schmitt
  (2010–2012)
  May 13, 1942

Latest election

Hungarian presidential election, 2012^[1]

Candidate	Nominating party	Votes	%
In favor of János Áder	Fidesz	262
Against Áder	---	40
Did not vote		79
Invalid votes		5
Total votes		307
Total seats		386	100.00

See also

• High National Council
• List of Hungarian people
• List of Prime Ministers of Hungary
• List of Vice Presidents of the Presidential Council of Hungary

References

1. Staff (2 May 2012). "Hungary Elects Former Fidesz MP János Áder President". Magyar Távirati Iroda (via politics.hu). Retrieved 5 October 2012.