Árpád Brusznyai, 1924–1958
Born in Derekegyháza, Csongrád County, Brusznyai obtained a degree with distinction in Ancient Greek, Latin and history in 1949, as a member of the elite Eötvös College. He obtained a doctorate in 1950 with a dissertation on the epics of Homer. He was thought to have a great future in classical philology, in which he published several papers and received appreciation from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. For a time, he worked with Gyula Moravcsik at the Institute of Classical Philology, but when his brother, a Catholic priest, was interned <internment> at Kistarcsa in 1951, Brusznyai lost his job. For a while, he taught Latin, Greek, music and choral conducting at the seminary in Vác. In 1952, he applied successfully for a teaching post at the László Lovassy Grammar School in Veszprém, where he was soon widely known and appreciated. He married in 1953 a laboratory worker at the Veszprém Chemical Research Institute and had a daughter in the following year. On October 26, 1956, Brusznyai was elected to the Veszprém County Revolutionary Council, where he was soon the leading intellectual light, becoming vice-chairman on October 31 and chairman on November 1. Meanwhile on October 28, he had led the County Revolutionary Council delegation to the nearby town of Várpalota, to learn about the events there. On November 2, the revolutionary council moved into the offices of the county council and Brusznyai went up to Budapest, where he negotiated with Lieutenant General Lorinc Kána at the Defence Ministry. The outcome of their talks was that Kána ordered the commander of the local garrison at Veszprém to release stored weapons to the national guard and provide a reliable officer to help with organizing the unit. On the following day, Brusznyai made a speech to the armed men gathered at the Jutas Barracks in Veszprém, emphasizing the need for discipline and public order. Their statement called on the government to open negotiations with the Soviet forces on a withdrawal from the country, to call democratic elections, and to continue the building of socialism in a way that considered national characteristics. On several occasions, Brusznyai used his influence to prevent violence and resolve some very tense situations peacefully. He issued a directive for the partial dissolution of the agricultural cooperatives and the return of land taken under the pretext of consolidating land holdings during collectivization. He also had the assets of Disz and the HWP frozen and transferred to the revolutionary council. He ordered a report on the ÁVH officers under arrest. He saw that hand guns were provided for the members of the revolutionary council and that the previous functionaries were disarmed. Brusznyai was arrested on April 25, 1957. The court of first instance convicted him on October 19, 1957 of conspiracy and condemned him to life imprisonment. The Special Council of the Military College of the Supreme Court, on January 7, 1958, increased the sentence to death, and he was executed two days later.
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