born Nov. 1, 1879, Budapest, Hung., Austria-Hungary
died April 3, 1941, Budapest
Hungarian politician.
An eminent geographer, he was a member of the Hungarian Parliament from 1905 and a delegate to the Paris Peace Conference (1919) after World War I. In 1921, however, he withdrew from party politics. He then taught at Budapest University before returning to office as minister of education (1938–39) and premier (1939–41). Hoping to use Germany's power to win back territories lost through the Treaty of Trianon (1920), he initially cooperated with Adolf Hitler . In 1941, caught between German demands for support after it invaded Yugoslavia (with whom Hungary had signed a friendship treaty in 1940) and British threats against helping Germany, he committed suicide.