István Oláh (16 December 1926 – 15 December 1985) was a Hungarian military officer and politician, who served as Minister of Defence from 1984 until his death.
István Oláh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Defence of Hungary | |
| In office 6 December 1984 – 15 December 1985 | |
| President | János Kádár |
| Preceded by | Lajos Czinege |
| Succeeded by | Ferenc Kárpáti |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 December 1926 Nádudvar, Hungary |
| Died | 15 December 1985 (aged 58)[1] Budapest, Hungary |
| Political party | Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Hungarian People's Republic |
| Branch/service |  Hungarian People's Army |
| Years of service | 1945–1985 |
| Rank | Army General |
Biography
In 1945, he became a volunteer in the Hungarian People's Army. That same year he joined the Communist Party.[2] In 1949 he graduated from the Kossuth Military Academy. In 1964, he a studied at the Voroshilov Soviet Higher Military Academy. From 1966 to 1973, he rose through the ranks of the Hungarian People's Army. He had been serving as a Deputy Minister of Defense of the Hungarian People's Army since 1966.[3] In 1975, he was made a permanent member of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party.[4] He was the Minister of Defense after the removal of Lajos Czinege.[5]
Death
Oláh died on 15 December 1985, a day before his 59th birthday.[6] He was buried in Kerepesi Cemetery. Conspiracy theories about his death arose has his death occurred at a time when the defense ministers of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and East Germany had also died within the same year. It gave rise to assumptions by the media about a specially held action by the Western special services to eliminate the supporters of a forceful solution to the 1981 Polish hunger demonstrations.[7]
External links
- Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon
- Politika, Serbian newspaper (text in Serbian) on his involvement in 1980 events about the time of death and state funeral of Josip Broz Tito.