Bán, Antal, (1903–1951)
Politician. A fitter by trade, Bán became active in the social democratic youth movement in 1917. He was a leader of the social democratic movement in Yugoslavia between the wars. In 1941, he was interned for six months by the Hungarian occupation authorities there, and on his release, moved to Budapest, where he joined the leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SZDP) and active in the illegal opposition movement during the German occupation of 1944. In August 1945, he became deputy general secretary of the SZDP and a member of the Provisional National Assembly. Bán served as minister of industry from June 1, 1945 to February 26, 1948. Having opposed the merger of the SZDP with the Hungarian Communist Party (MKP), he was expelled from the former in February 1948. He then fled abroad and thereafter lived in Switzerland and Britain. In August 1948, he became general secretary of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary in Emigration.
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