Pál Maléter

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title: "Pál Maléter" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1917-births", "1958-deaths", "people-from-prešov", "hungarian-lutherans", "hungarian-communist-party-politicians", "members-of-the-hungarian-working-people's-party", "ministers-of-defence-of-hungary", "hungarian-generals", "people-of-the-hungarian-revolution-of-1956", "hungarian-military-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "hungarian-prisoners-of-war", "world-war-ii-prisoners-of-war-held-by-the-soviet-union", "hungarian-revolutionaries", "executed-hungarian-people", "people-executed-for-treason-against-hungary", "20th-century-executions-for-treason", "people-executed-by-hungary-by-hanging", "charles-university-alumni", "executed-revolutionaries", "executed-communists"] description: "20th-century Hungarian military officer and leader of the 1956 revolution" topic_path: "science/biology" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pál_Maléter" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 20th-century Hungarian military officer and leader of the 1956 revolution ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Pál Maléter
image	Maléter Pál portré.png
image_size	250px
caption	Maléter in 1956
office	Minister of Defence of the Hungarian People's Republic
term_start	3 November 1956
term_end	12 November 1956
primeminister	Imre Nagy
predecessor	Károly Janza
successor	Ferenc Münnich
birth_name	Pál Maléter
birth_date
birth_place	Eperjes, Sáros County, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary
death_date
death_place	Budapest, Hungarian People's Republic
death_cause	Execution by hanging
resting_place	New Public Cemetery, Budapest
citizenship
nationality	Hungarian
party
height
spouse	Mária Pausz
partner
children	3
parents
mother	Margit Lakner
father	István Maléter
residence
alma_mater	Charles University (BS)
Eötvös Loránd University
Ludovica Academy
occupation
awards
allegiance	Kingdom of Hungary
Soviet Union
Hungarian People's Republic
Hungarian People's Republic Hungarian revolutionaries
serviceyears	1942–1956
rank	Colonel General
battles
::

| honorific_prefix = | name = Pál Maléter | honorific_suffix = | image = Maléter Pál portré.png | image_size = 250px | caption = Maléter in 1956 | order = | office = Minister of Defence of the Hungarian People's Republic | status = | term_start = 3 November 1956 | term_end = 12 November 1956 | primeminister = Imre Nagy | predecessor = Károly Janza | successor = Ferenc Münnich | pronunciation = | birth_name = Pál Maléter | birth_date = | birth_place = Eperjes, Sáros County, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary | death_date = | death_place = Budapest, Hungarian People's Republic | death_cause = Execution by hanging | resting_place = New Public Cemetery, Budapest | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship =
| nationality = Hungarian | party = | otherparty = | height =
| spouse = Mária Pausz | partner =
| relations = | children = 3 | parents =
| mother = Margit Lakner | father = István Maléter | relatives = | residence = | education = | alma_mater = Charles University (BS) Eötvös Loránd University Ludovica Academy | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | salary = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards =
| blank1 = | data1 = | allegiance = Kingdom of Hungary Soviet Union Hungarian People's Republic Hungarian People's Republic Hungarian revolutionaries | branch = | serviceyears = 1942–1956 | rank = Colonel General | unit = | commands = | battles =

• World War II
  • Eastern Front
• Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Pál Maléter (4 September 1917 – 16 June 1958) was the military leader of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution who served as minister of defence in the third government of Imre Nagy.

Maléter was born to Hungarian parents in Eperjes, a city in Sáros County, in the northern part of Kingdom of Hungary, today Prešov, Slovakia. He studied medicine at the Charles University, Prague, before moving to Budapest in 1938, going to the military academy there. He fought on the Eastern Front of World War II for the Axis, until captured by the Red Army. He became a communist, trained in sabotage, fought against the Germans in Transylvania and was sent back to Hungary, where he was noted for his courage and daring. In 1945 he joined the Hungarian Communist Party.

In 1956 he was a Colonel and served with the General Staff in Budapest when during the Hungarian Uprising he was sent to relieve a unit at the Kilian barracks with some tanks and a company of officer cadets. However, only Maléter's tank arrived at the barracks, and with the permission of his superiors, he agreed to a cease-fire with the insurgent groups in the area. Later (the exact time of this is disputed) he switched to the insurgents' side, helping them to defend the Kilian Barracks against Soviet troops. He was the most prominent member of the Hungarian military to change sides, allying himself with the insurgents, rather than with Ernő Gerő's communist government.

As the chief military presence on the insurgents' side, he came into contact with the new government and on 29 October, he was appointed Minister of Defense, and was promoted to Major General on 2 November. On 3 November, he went to Tököl, located near Budapest, to negotiate with the Soviet military forces based there. During discussions on the following day, and against international law, Soviet officers arrested Maléter at the conference and imprisoned him.

He was executed, along with Imre Nagy and others, in a Budapest prison on 16 June 1958 on charges of attempting to overthrow the Hungarian People's Republic. His first wife and three children went to the U.S. in the wake of the uprising, and his second wife remained in Hungary. Both wives subsequently remarried. His only son, Pál Maléter II (1946 – January 4, 2017), was trained at the Hotchkiss School and Columbia University before becoming an architect in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

In June 1989, on the anniversary of their deaths, Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter, three others who had died in prison and a sixth empty coffin, symbolising all those who had died, were formally reburied in Budapest with full honours. He was also promoted to Colonel General posthumously.

A pine cultivar has been named after him, a dwarf variety. Maléter was known for his great height; according to historian Victor Sebestyen, Maléter was "more than two meters tall", or at least six feet eight inches (6 ft).

Notes

References

• {{cite book | last = Sebestyen | first = Victor | title = Twelve Days: The Story of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution | publisher = Pantheon | year = 2006 | location = New York | url = https://archive.org/details/twelvedaysstoryo00sebe | pages = xix | isbn = 0-375-42458-X | url-access = registration
• {{cite book | last = Durschmied | first = Erik | author-link = Erik Durschmied | title = Unsung Heroes: The Twentieth Century's Forgotten History-Makers | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton | year = 2004 | pages = chap. X | isbn = 0-340-82520-0 | no-pp = true}}

References

1. "Pal Maléter II {{!}} Memory Project".
2. Trade, United States Congress House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on. (1983). "Presidential Recommendation to Continue Waivers Applicable to Romania, Hungary, and the People's Republic of China, and to Extend the Trade Act Waiver Authority: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Ninety-eighth Congress, First Session, July 14, 1983". U.S. Government Printing Office.
3. (2017-07-06). "Obituaries".
4. [http://www.arrowhead-alpines.com/conifers2_gallery/pages/Pinus%20mugo%20'Pal%20Maleter'.htm Pinus mugo 'Pal Maleter'] {{Webarchive. link. (5 December 2010 . arrowhead-alpines.com)
5. Victor Sebestyen (2006), ''Twelve Days: The Story of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution'', {{ISBN. 030727795X, p. 130.

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