List of heads of state of Hungary

President of Hungary
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	18 October 1989
Website	The Office of the President of the Republic of Hungary: keh.hu (in Hungarian; at October 2012, home page offered link to English module)

Hungary
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Hungary
Constitution President János Áder Prime Minister (List) Viktor Orbán National Assembly Speaker László Kövér Political parties Fidesz - KDNP - Jobbik LMP - PM - MSZP - DK Other parties Constitutional Court Elections European parliamentary, 2009 Parliamentary, 2010 Local, 2010 Presidential, 2012 Politics of the European Union Foreign relations
Other countries Atlas Politics portal

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

This is a list of heads of state of Hungary. Currently, the head of state of Hungary is the President of the Republic, 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 Cabinet 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

Hungarian Revolution of 1848

Parties       Opposition Party       Military

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political party	Notes
1		Lajos Kossuth	14 April 1849	11 August 1849	Opposition Party	Governor-President; appointed after the declaration of independent Hungarian state
		Artúr Görgey acting civil and military authority	11 August 1849	13 August 1849	Military	Surrendered Hungarian army to the Russian troops at Világos; the end of the revolution

Hungarian Democratic Republic (1918–1919)

Parties       Independence Party

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political party	Notes
1		Mihály Károlyi	16 November 1918	21 March 1919	Independence Party	President of the Republic

Hungarian Soviet Republic (1919)

Parties       Socialist Party of Hungary       Hungarian Social Democratic Party

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political party	Notes
1		Sándor Garbai	21 March 1919	1 August 1919	Socialist Party of Hungary	Chairman of the Central Executive Council and Prime Minister; 1919 Hungarian–Romanian War
		Gyula Peidl	1 August 1919	6 August 1919	Hungarian Social Democratic Party	Acting President and Prime Minister; the end of the Hungarian–Romanian War

Romanian Occupation (1919–1920)

Parties       KNEP (Party of the Christian-National Union)

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political party	Notes
1		Joseph August	6 August 1919	23 August 1919	Independent (Regent)	Regent of Hungary; Romania occupied Hungary
		István Friedrich	23 August 1919	24 November 1919	Independent → KNEP (Party of the Christian-National Union)	Acting Head of State and Prime Minister; Romanian occupation continued
		Károly Huszár	24 November 1919	1 March 1920	KNEP (Party of the Christian-National Union)	Acting Head of State and Prime Minister; Romanian occupation ended

Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1944)

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political party	Notes
2		Miklós Horthy	1 March 1920	15 October 1944	Independent (Regent)	Regent of Hungary of a kingdom with no king on the throne

Government of National Unity (1944–1945)

Parties       Arrow Cross Party

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political party	Notes
1		Ferenc Szálasi	16 October 1944	28 March 1945	Arrow Cross Party	Government of National Unity

Soviet Occupation (1944–1946)

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political party	Notes
		Béla Miklós in opposition	21 December 1944	25 January 1945	Independent	Prime Minister for a communist-dominated puppet-government in the Soviet-occupied portions of the country; Hungary was occupied by the Red Army
		High National Council in opposition to 28 March 1945	26 January 1945	1 February 1946	Multi-party	Collective Head of State of the Kingdom of Hungary

Republic of Hungary (1946–1949)

Parties       Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party (KGFP)       Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP)

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political party	Notes
2		Zoltán Tildy	1 February 1946	2 August 1948	Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party (FKGP)	President of the Republic
3		Árpád Szakasits	2 August 1948	23 August 1949	Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP)	President of the Republic

People's Republic of Hungary (1949–1989)

Parties       Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP)       Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP)

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political party	Notes
1		Árpád Szakasits	23 August 1949	26 April 1950	Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP)	Chairman of the Presidential Council
2		Sándor Rónai	26 April 1950	14 August 1952	Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP)	Chairman of the Presidential Council
3		István Dobi	14 August 1952	25 October 1956	Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP)	Chairman of the Presidential Council
(3)			25 October 1956	13 April 1967	Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP)
4		Pál Losonczi	13 April 1967	25 June 1987	Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP)	Chairman of the Presidential Council
5		Károly Németh	25 June 1987	29 June 1988	Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP)	Chairman of the Presidential Council
6		Brunó Ferenc Straub	29 June 1988	18 October 1989	Non-partisan	Chairman of the Presidential Council

Hungary (1989–Present)

Parties       Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP)       Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ)       Fidesz

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political party	Notes
		Mátyás Szűrös	18 October 1989	2 May 1990	Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP)	Interim President
1		Árpád Göncz	2 May 1990	4 August 2000	Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ)	President of the Republic
2		Ferenc Mádl	4 August 2000	5 August 2005	Non-partisan	President of the Republic
3		László Sólyom	5 August 2005	6 August 2010	Non-partisan	President of the Republic
4		Pál Schmitt	6 August 2010	2 April 2012 (resigned)	Fidesz	President of the Republic
		László Kövér	2 April 2012	10 May 2012	Fidesz	Acting President
5		János Áder	10 May 2012	Incumbent	Fidesz	President of the Republic

General Secretaries of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (1945–1989)

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Political party	Notes
1		Mátyás Rákosi	February 1945	18 July 1956	Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP)	Also Prime Minister (1952–1953)
2		Ernő Gerő	18 July 1956	25 October 1956	Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP)
3		János Kádár	25 October 1956	27 May 1988	Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP)	Also Prime Minister (1956–1958 and 1961–1965)
4		Károly Grósz	27 May 1988	7 October 1989	Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP)	Also Prime Minister (1987–1988)
5		Rezső Nyers	26 June 1989	7 October 1989	Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP)	Party President; outranked Grósz after 26 June

Living former presidents

Name	Term	Date of birth
Mátyás Szűrös	1989–1990	11 September 1933
Árpád Göncz	1990–2000	10 February 1922
László Sólyom	2005–2010	3 January 1942
Pál Schmitt	2010–2012	13 May 1942

Latest election

Main article: Hungarian presidential election, 2012

Hungarian presidential election, 2012

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