List of heads of state of Hungary

This article lists the heads of state of Hungary, from the Hungarian Declaration of Independence and the establishment of the Hungarian State in 1849 (during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848) until the present day.

The current head of state of Hungary is President of the Republic Tamás Sulyok, former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court. He was elected on 26 February 2024 and took office on 5 March 2024.^[1][2]

For earlier rulers, see Grand Prince of the Hungarians, King of Hungary and List of Hungarian monarchs.

Hungarian State (1849)

Parties   Opposition Party

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Position(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Lajos Kossuth (1802–1894)	14 April 1849	11 August 1849	119 days	Opposition Party	Governor-President Also Prime Minister until 2 May 1849
—		Artúr Görgei (1818–1916)	11 August 1849	13 August 1849	2 days	Revolutionary Army	Dictator Acting civil and military authority

After the collapse of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the restored Hungarian Kingdom became an integral part of the Austrian Empire until 1867, when dual Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was created and the Hungarian Kingdom was organized as Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen.

Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen (1867–1918)

Further information: List of Hungarian monarchs

Hungarian People's Republic (1918–1919)

Parties   F48P–Károlyi

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Position(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Mihály Károlyi (1875–1955)	16 November 1918	11 January 1919	125 days	F48P–Károlyi	Provisional President of the Republic Also Prime Minister
			11 January 1919	21 March 1919			President of the Republic

Hungarian Soviet Republic (1919)

Parties   MSZP/SZKMMP

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Position(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Sándor Garbai (1879–1947)	21 March 1919	1 August 1919	133 days	MSZP/SZKMMP	Chairman of the Central Executive Council

Hungarian People's Republic (1919)

Parties   MSZDP

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Position(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
—		Gyula Peidl (1873–1943)	1 August 1919	6 August 1919	5 days	MSZDP	Prime Minister Acting Head of State

Hungarian Republic (1919–1920)

Parties   KNEP   Independent

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Position(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Archduke Joseph August (1872–1962)	7 August 1919	23 August 1919	16 days	Independent (Regent)	Regent of Hungary
—		István Friedrich (1883–1951)	23 August 1919	24 November 1919	93 days	KNP → KNEP	Acting Head of State Also Prime Minister
—		Károly Huszár (1882–1941)	24 November 1919	1 March 1920	98 days	KNEP

Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)

  Independent

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Position(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
2		Miklós Horthy (1868–1957)	1 March 1920	15 October 1944	24 years, 228 days	Independent	Regent of Hungary

Government of National Unity (1944–1945)

Parties   NYKP

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Position(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Ferenc Szálasi (1897–1946)	4 November 1944	7 May 1945	184 days	NYKP	Leader of the Nation De facto, appointed by the Germans Also Prime Minister

Soviet-backed provisional governments (1944–1946)

Parties   Independent

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Position(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
—		Béla Miklós (1890–1948)	21 December 1944	25 January 1945	35 days	Independent	Head of State Also Prime Minister In opposition
—		High National Council	26 January 1945	1 February 1946	1 year, 6 days	Multi-party	Collective Head of State In opposition to 28 March 1945

Hungarian Republic (1946–1949)

Parties   FKGP   MDP

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Position(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Zoltán Tildy (1889–1961)	1 February 1946	3 August 1948	2 years, 184 days	FKGP	President of the Republic
2		Árpád Szakasits (1888–1965)	3 August 1948	23 August 1949	1 year, 20 days	MDP

Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989)

Chairman of the Presidential Council

Main article: Presidential Council of the Hungarian People's Republic

Parties   MDP–MSZMP   Independent

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Position(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Árpád Szakasits (1888–1965)	23 August 1949	26 April 1950	246 days	MDP	Chairman of the Presidential Council
2		Sándor Rónai (1892–1965)	26 April 1950	14 August 1952	2 years, 110 days
3		István Dobi (1898–1968)	14 August 1952	25 October 1956	14 years, 243 days
(3)			25 October 1956	14 April 1967		MSZMP
4		Pál Losonczi (1919–2005)	14 April 1967	25 June 1987	20 years, 72 days
5		Károly Németh (1922–2008)	25 June 1987	29 June 1988	1 year, 4 days
6		Brunó Ferenc Straub (1914–1996)	29 June 1988	23 October 1989	1 year, 116 days	Independent

Leader of the Hungarian Working People's Party / Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party

Parties   MDP–MSZMP

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Position(s)	Notes
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Mátyás Rákosi (1892–1971)	12 June 1948	28 June 1953	8 years, 36 days	MDP	General Secretary	Also Prime Minister (1952–1953)
			28 June 1953	18 July 1956			First Secretary
2		Ernő Gerő (1898–1980)	18 July 1956	25 October 1956	99 days
3		János Kádár (1912–1989)	25 October 1956	31 October 1956	31 years, 210 days			Also Prime Minister (1956–1958 and 1961–1965)
(3)			31 October 1956	28 March 1985		MSZMP
			28 March 1985	22 May 1988			General Secretary
4		Károly Grósz (1930–1996)	22 May 1988	26 June 1989	1 year, 35 days			Also Prime Minister (1987–1988)
5		Rezső Nyers (1923–2018)	26 June 1989	7 October 1989	103 days		Party President[a]

Hungarian Republic / Hungary (from 1989)

Parties   MSZP   SZDSZ   Fidesz   Independent

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party[b]	Position(s)	Term (Election)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
—		Mátyás Szűrös (born 1933)	23 October 1989	2 May 1990	191 days	MSZP	Provisional President of the Republic	—
—		Árpád Göncz (1922–2015)	2 May 1990	2 August 1990	10 years, 93 days	SZDSZ	Acting President of the Republic	—
1			3 August 1990	2 August 1995			President of the Republic	1 (1990)
			3 August 1995	3 August 2000				2 (1995)
2		Ferenc Mádl (1931–2011)	4 August 2000	4 August 2005	5 years	Independent		3 (2000)
3		László Sólyom (1942–2023)	5 August 2005	5 August 2010	5 years			4 (2005)
4		Pál Schmitt (born 1942)	6 August 2010	2 April 2012 (resigned)	1 year, 240 days	Fidesz		5 (2010)
—		László Kövér (born 1959)	2 April 2012	10 May 2012	38 days		Acting President of the Republic	—
5		János Áder (born 1959)	10 May 2012	9 May 2017	10 years		President of the Republic	6 (2012)
			10 May 2017	10 May 2022				7 (2017)
6		Katalin Novák (born 1977)	10 May 2022	26 February 2024 (resigned)	1 year, 292 days			8 (2022)
—		László Kövér (born 1959)	26 February 2024	5 March 2024	8 days		Acting President of the Republic	—
7		Tamás Sulyok (born 1956)	5 March 2024	Incumbent	1 year, 153 days	Independent	President of the Republic	9 (2024)

Timeline

See also

• Biography portal
• Hungary portal
• Lists portal
• Politics portal

• List of Hungarian monarchs
• List of prime ministers of Hungary

Notes

1. While Grósz retained the title of General Secretary until 7 October, Nyers held the chairmanship of the Party's four-man presidency after the reorganization of the Party leadership on 26 June. This made him de facto chief executive of both the Party and the country after that date for several months in 1989.
2. All presidents since 1990 have resigned their political affiliation after taking office. The parties listed represent those that presidents have been elected as representatives of.