Jenő Lelley´s Right-Hand Man. The Political Carrier of Gyula Kaiser

After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the Hungarians living on the territory of the former Upper Hungary but at the time having found themselves in a newly established country, had been continually building their political representation. One of the oldest and most successful political parties had been the National Christian Socialist Party (Országos Keresztényszocialista Párt, OKP) headed by Jenő Lelley. Despite the relatively rich scientific literature of recent years, we still know little about the history of OKP—about its establishment, its first chairman, and about the manifold activities of the “party-soldiers” within its orbit. No wonder, since the historical memory of Hungarians in Slovakia has buried Jenő Lelley and his supporters within OKP in oblivion. In 1920, Jenő Lelley found his most loyal comrade in the person of Gyula Kaiser, who, despite his troubled life during his relatively short political carrier, stood alongside the first party chairman all the way. In the early 1920s, the Czechoslovak authorities interned him for political reasons twice. He was national leader of one of the largest trade unions, elected member of the Bratislava City Council for two cycles, and from 1921, he had been responsible editor of the OKP´s weekly. In this study we try to highlight Kaiser´s so far completely unknown political carrier.

László Bukovszky       32-051

Jenő Lelley´s Right-Hand Man. The Political Carrier of Gyula Kaiser      929 Kaiser Gyula

329.4(=511.141)(437.6)

94(437.6)

Keywords: National Christian Socialist Party (Országos Keresztényszocialista Párt), Jenő Lelley, Gyula Kaiser, political parties of the Hungarian minority, Hungarian minority in Slovakia.