Paul Lendvai

The native form of this personal name is Lendvai Pál. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Paul Lendvai
Lendvai Pál
Lendvai in 2025
Born (1929-08-24) 24 August 1929
Budapest, Hungary
Occupations
Years activec. 1940s–present
Websitehttps://www.lendvai.at

Paul Lendvai[1] (Hungarian: Lendvai Pál; born 24 August 1929) is a Hungarian-born Austrian author, journalist and political commentator who writes on topics such as Eastern Europe, communism, and antisemitism.

Early life

Paul Lendvai was born in Budapest, Hungary on 24 August 1929, to Jewish parents.[2] At the age of 15, he was arrested by the Nazis during the German occupation of Hungary,[3] but survived with the help of a Swiss Schutzpass. Lendvai began his journalism career writing for social democratic newspapers in Hungary. Due to increasing political pressure following the Hungarian Revolution, he immigrated to Vienna, Austria, in 1957, where he continued his work.[4]

Career

Hungary

Lendvai worked as a journalist during Hungary's Rákosi era (1947-1956), writing for Szabad Nép and serving as chief of foreign reporting at the Hungarian news agency, Magyar Távirati Iroda (MTI).

In 1957, he immigrated to Vienna via Prague and Warsaw.

Austria

After arriving in Vienna, Lendvai wrote articles under aliases such as "György Holló", "Árpád Bécs", and "Paul Landy".[5]

According to Lendvai, the aliases were a necessary survival measure to protect his parents from possible retaliation by the Hungarian state security services while he was publishing critical political journalism in the West. In his memoir he writes that guilt over leaving them behind made him "avoid anything that could cause them further difficulties. That’s why I was so intent on hiding behind pen names”. [6]

He became a naturalised Austrian in 1959, and became a journalist specialising in Eastern European affairs. He served as the Eastern European correspondent for the daily Die Presse broadsheet and the Financial Times newspaper for twenty-two years.[7]

Lendvai contributed to the British newspaper The Economist and wrote columns for Austrian, German, and Swiss newspapers and radio stations. In 1982, he became editor-in-chief of the Eastern Europe department at the ORF public broadcasting company, and in 1987, he became the director-general of Radio Österreich International. In 1985, the Hungarian communist leadership organized a Cultural Forum, inviting 900 politicians, writers, and other notable figures. Concurrently, a "counter-cultural forum" was planned, with expected participation from "dissidents and opposition groups", including György Konrád. Beginning in 2003, his weekly columns were published by the newspaper Der Standard. In 2010, a Hungarian pro-government newspaper accused Lendvai of collaborating with the communist regime by providing information about the counter-forum to the Hungarian authorities.[8] Ferenc Gyurcsány, Hungary's former socialist prime minister, defended Lendvai, stating:

"As for me, I support him in his struggle to make a case for his decisions of yesteryear. [...] And we've got to stop digging up the past."

Hungarian novelist György Konrád, one of the intended speakers of the opposition event, expressed despondency over the allegations, stating, "If this was how things were, then it is very sad."[9] Lendvai denied the accusations, attributing the campaign against him to his criticism of the current government in his latest book. Former conservative MP Debreczeni, philosopher Sandor Radnoti, and Austrian conservative leader Erhard Busek all defended his integrity. János Nagy, the ambassador with whom Lendvai had spoken at the time, was interviewed about the matter on Klubrádió and stated that his reports faithfully reflected their conversations.[9]

On 19 March 2011, Lendvai presented the Hungarian translation of his book Mein verspieltes Land ("My squandered country") in Budapest.[10] In his 1998 memoir, Blacklisted: A Journalist's Life in Central Europe, he discusses themes of ethnic hatred, political instability, and antisemitism in 20th-century Central Europe.[11]

Lendvai was the founder, editor-in-chief, and co-publisher of Europäische Rundschau, a Vienna-based international quarterly published between 1973 and 2020.[12] Austrian president, Heinz Fischer and former Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg delivered speeches at the review's 40th anniversary on 8 November 2013.[13] Lendvai was appointed chairman of the independent migration council for Austria on 3 April 2014 by the Minister of the Interior.[14]

Secret police file

In the 1990s, Lendvai attempted to access his secret service file through a meeting with Socialist Prime Minister Gyula Horn but was unsuccessful in doing so. While honoured in the Hungarian Parliament, he reportedly commented, "I’d rather get my files than the award."[14] The file, originally classified until 15 February 2042, was declassified under a 2003 law, along with other documents.[15] In 2006, Lendvai requested and obtained his records from the Hungarian secret service archives, later describing their contents in an article for the literary weekly Élet és Irodalom (ÉS). In this article, he named several individuals assigned to his case.[16]

According to Lendvai, the files totaled over 300 pages and identified him by the pseudonym "Michael Cole".[17][18] He subtitled his article "The Story of an Unsuccessful Recruitment", stating that Hungarian intelligence services had reportedly attempted, but failed, to recruit him as an agent.[19]

Lendvai claims he achieved some of these goals by entertaining Hungarian officials, including Gyula Ortutay, at Austrian striptease shows.[19] These officials subsequently intervened on his behalf. Lendvai also asserts that some reports attributed to an operative codenamed "Urbán" that portrayed him as a source were fabricated by Urbán himself.

After his emigration, the Hungarian state security (ÁVH) placed him on a blacklist.

In his 2007 publication, Lendvai identified his accuser from 1953 as journalist Péter Vajda, who was also an armed officer of the ÁVH at the time. When Lendvai wrote the article, Vajda was reportedly leading the press office of the National Security Cabinet in Ferenc Gyurcsány's government.

Bibliography

  • Tito, a magyar nép ellensége (1951)
  • Franciaország keresztúton (1955)
  • Eagles in Cobwebs: Nationalism and Communism in the Balkans (1969)
  • Anti-Semitism without Jews: Communist Eastern Europe (1971)
  • Anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe (1972)
  • Kreisky – Portrait eines Staatsmannes (1974)
  • Die Grenzen des Wandels: Spielarten des Kommunismus im Donauraum (1977)
  • Bureaucracy of Truth: How Communist Governments Manage the News (1981)
  • Das Einsame Albanien: Reportage aus dem Land der Skipetaren (1985)
  • Das eigenwillige Ungarn: Innenansichten eines Grenzgängers (1986)
  • Hungary: The Art of Survival (1990)
  • Between Hope and Disillusionment – Reflections on the Change in Eastern Europe (1994)
  • Honnan – Hová? – Gondolatok a közép- és kelet-európai változásokról (1995)
  • Auf schwarzen Listen. Erlebnisse eines Mitteleuropäers (1996)
  • Blacklisted: A Journalist's Life in Central Europe (1998)
  • Hungarians: A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat (2003)
  • A világ egy kritikus európai szemével (2005)
  • Az osztrák titok – 50 év a hatalom kulisszái mögött (2007)
  • Best of Paul Lendvai (2008)
  • One Day That Shook the Communist World: The 1956 Hungarian Uprising and Its Legacy (2008)
  • Als der Eiserne Vorhang fiel (2009)
  • Inside Austria: New Challenges, Old Demons (2010)
  • Mein verspieltes Land – Ungarn im Umbruch (2010)
  • Az eltékozolt ország (2011)
  • Három élet – Beszélgetés Mihancsik Zsófiával (2012)
  • Hungary: Between Democracy and Authoritarianism (2012)
  • Leben eines Grenzgängers (2013)
  • Orbáns Ungarn (2016)
  • Orbán: Europe's New Strongman (2017)
  • Die verspielte Welt. Begegnungen und Erinnerungen (memoir, 2019)
  • Vielgeprüftes Österreich: Ein kritischer Befund zur Zeitenwende (2022)
  • Über die Heuchelei. Täuschungen und Selbsttäuschungen in der Politik (2024)

Decorations and awards

References

  1. ^ Bloomsbury.Domain.Store.Site. "Paul Lendvai: Bloomsbury Publishing (US)". www.bloomsbury.com. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Paul Lendvai: Orbán's Hungary is a "Führer Democracy" - ECPS". 9 April 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  3. ^ "German Troops Occupy Hungary". Archived from the original on 10 February 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  4. ^ "Contemporary witness Paul Lendvai | Festival of Joy | Day of liberation 8 May". Fest der Freude. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  5. ^ "Österreich 1956-57". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 10 November 2025.
  6. ^ Lendvai, Paul; Glavina, Zsuzsa; Mohi, Zsolt (2002). Határátlépés: az Üllői útról a nagyvilágba. Budapest: Helikon. pp. 213–214. ISBN 978-963-208-767-2.
  7. ^ "Paul Lendvai". HURST. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  8. ^ Ghosts of the communist past
  9. ^ a b Lendvai Reloaded Archived 5 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Megjelent magyarul Paul Lendvai új könyve
  11. ^ Lendvai, Paul (31 December 1998). Blacklisted: A Journalist's Life in Central Europe. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-86064-268-5.
  12. ^ "Europäische Rundschau - Ein Abschied nach 47 Jahren". www.europaeische-rundschau.at. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  13. ^ Schlie, Ulrich (14 July 2020). "Europäische Rundschau: Ende einer traditionsreichen Zeitschrift". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  14. ^ a b Austrian News Agency APA 4 April 2014
  15. ^ Csaba, Ilkei, Dr. "The unusual case of Paul Lendvai". Retrieved 4 February 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ a b "Reply to a parliamentary question" (PDF) (in German). p. 1447. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  17. ^ "Újságírók, szerkesztők, sajtómunkások IX. - Akiért a belügyminiszter tűzbe tette a kezét, Bécsből Ausztráliába szökött". Kuruc (in Hungarian). Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  18. ^ "Cole Michael volt Lendvai titkosszolgálati fedőneve – A teljes cikk". Magyar Nemzet (in Hungarian). 5 August 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  19. ^ a b "Újabb karaktergyilkos cikk Lendvai Pálról". hvg.hu (in Hungarian). 5 August 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  20. ^ "Preisträgerliste Dr-Karl-Renner-Publizistikpreis" (PDF). ÖJC - Österreichischer Journalisten Club. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  1. ^ Festival of Joy
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