- published: 20 Jul 2014
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Ernő Gerő (born Ernő Singer; July 8, 1898 - March 12, 1980) was a Hungarian Communist Party leader in the period after World War II and briefly in 1956 the most powerful man in Hungary as first secretary of its ruling communist party.
Gerő was born in Terbegec, Hungary (now Trebušovce, Slovakia) to Jewish parents, though he later totally repudiated religion. An early Hungarian communist, Gerő fled Hungary for the Soviet Union after Béla Kun's brief communist government was overthrown in August 1919. During his two decades living in the USSR, Gerő was an active KGB agent. Through that association, Gerő was involved in Comintern -- the international organization of communists—in France, and also fought in the Spanish Civil War.
Ernő Gerő was a member of Hungary's High National Council (provisional government) between January 26, and May 11, 1945.