Paul Lendvai


Paul Lendvai 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. At the age of 15, he was arrested by the Nazis during the German occupation of Hungary, 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.

Career

Hungary

Lendvai worked as a journalist during Hungary's Rákosi era, 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".
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”.
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.
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. 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." 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.
On 19 March 2011, Lendvai presented the Hungarian translation of his book Mein verspieltes Land in Budapest. 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.
Lendvai was the founder, editor-in-chief, and co-publisher of Europäische Rundschau'', a Vienna-based international quarterly published between 1973 and 2020. Austrian president, Heinz Fischer and former Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg delivered speeches at the review's 40th anniversary on 8 November 2013. Lendvai was appointed chairman of the independent migration council for Austria on 3 April 2014 by the Minister of the Interior.

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." The file, originally classified until 15 February 2042, was declassified under a 2003 law, along with other documents. 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 . In this article, he named several individuals assigned to his case.
According to Lendvai, the files totaled over 300 pages and identified him by the pseudonym "Michael Cole". 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.
Lendvai claims he achieved some of these goals by entertaining Hungarian officials, including Gyula Ortutay, at Austrian striptease shows. 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 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.

Decorations and awards