Since 1848 when the office was established, there have been 62 prime ministers altogether who served in official or non-official status.
Gender
All of Hungary's prime ministers have been men as of 2025.
Period of service
The longest-serving prime minister is Hungary's history is the incumbent office-holder Viktor Orbán, who held the position from 6 July 1998 to 27 May 2002 and then from 29 May 2010 until the present day, serving 19years, 93days in total. He is also the longest single termed prime minister, which started on 29 May 2010 and holds until the present day (15years, 133days).
János Hadik, who served the shortest total period as an effective prime minister (1918)
The shortest period in office is more confused, depending on the criteria. The shortest ever period was only 17 hours, a record held by János Hadik, from 30 October to 31 October 1918, who was asked to form a government by King Charles IV but the Aster Revolution broke out led by leftist liberal Mihály Károlyi and by the end of the day, King Charles IV had accepted the coup and appointed Károlyi as Hungary's new prime minister. Hadik had no time to form a government, so many historians believe he was just a designated premier. On 1 August 1919 Gyula Peidl was appointed prime minister after the fall of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, but 5 days later his government was overthrown.
Other notables
The prime minister with the longest period between the start of his first appointment and the end of his final term is Viktor Orbán, his first term began on 6 July 1998 and is still in power until the present day (27years, 93days).
Pál Teleki holds the record for the longest period between terms, his first term ended on 14 April 1921 and his final term did not start until 16 February 1939 (17 years and 308 days).
Number of terms
Sándor Wekerle, appointed Prime Minister more times than any other
The only prime minister to serve three non-consecutive terms was Sándor Wekerle (17 November 1892 – 14 January 1895, 8 April 1906 – 17 January 1910, 20 August 1917 – 30 October 1918). Mátyás Rákosi also served the same number (1–4 February 1946, 31 May 1947, 14 August 1952 – 3 July 1953), but only his third term was official.
The majority of prime ministers served one single or two non-consecutive terms.
Birth dates
The earliest born prime minister was Lajos Kossuth, born on 16 September 1802 and died on 20 March 1894. Illegally appointed prime minister Ádám Récsey was born on 10 February 1775 and is the only one who come from the 18th century.
The latest born prime minister is Gordon Bajnai, born 5 March 1968 and is still alive.
The youngest prime minister to be appointed was András Hegedüs on 18 April 1955 at the age of 32 years and 167 days.
The oldest prime minister to be appointed was Géza Fejérváry on 18 June 1905 at the age of 72 years and 87 days. Ádám Récsey was appointed illegally by the Habsburg dynasty at the age of 73 years and 235 days, but never served officially as prime minister.
Age on leaving office
The youngest prime minister to leave office was András Hegedüs, aged 34 years and 1 day.
The oldest prime minister to leave office was Ferenc Münnich, aged 74 years and 299 days.
Living age
The longest lived prime minister is Péter Boross, who was born on 27 August 1928 and is 97years, 43days. Dezső Pattantyús-Ábrahám, prime minister of the second Counter-Revolutionary Government during the Hungarian Soviet Republic died on 25 July 1973, at the age of 98 years and 15 days.
The shortest-lived prime minister was Lajos Batthyány, who was born on 10 February 1807 and was executed on 6 October 1849 at the age of 42 years and 238 days. The shortest-lived prime minister who died of natural causes was Gyula Gömbös, born on 26 December 1886 and died on 6 October 1936 at the age of 49 years and 285 days.
Living after office
Kálmán Darányi, who lived the shortest after leaving office (natural causes)
The prime minister who lived the longest after leaving office was Lajos Kossuth, who left office on 1 May 1849 and died on 20 March 1894 (44 years and 268 days).
The prime minister who lived the shortest period after leaving office was Ferenc Szálasi, whose term ended on 28 March 1945 and was executed on 12 March 1946 (351 days). The shortest-lived after office premier who died of natural causes was Kálmán Darányi. He left the office on 14 May 1938 and died on 1 November 1939 (1 year and 171 days).
István Tisza is the only prime minister of Hungary to ever be assassinated. He was killed on 31 October 1918 after leaving office.
Holding other non-governmental posts paranelly
Some prime ministers also served in other leading position at the same time:
Lajos Kossuth was elected prime minister on 2 October 1848 and with it he became the Commander-in-chief of the Hungarian Revolutionary Army. From 14 April 1949, he became de facto head of state after the newly inagurated constitution did not recognize the claim of Franz Joseph I to the Hungarian throne. His premiership lasted until 2 May that year, after he continued only his governor office.
Mihály Károlyi served as prime minister from 31 October 1918 and after the fall of monarchy on 16 November that year he became the acting head of state as interim president at the same time. His premiership ended on 11 January 1919 when he officially became the first president in the Hungarian history.
Sándor Garbai was also served as de facto head of state along his premiership during the Hungarian Soviet Republic from 21 March to 1 August 1919.
Gyula Peidl was also served as acting head of state along his premiership after the fall of Hungarian Soviet Republic from 1 to 6 August 1919.
István Friedrich was also served as acting head of state along his premiership after the fall of Hungarian Soviet Republic from 23 August to 24 November 1919.
Károly Huszár was also served as acting head of state along his premiership after the fall of Hungarian Soviet Republic from 24 November 1919 to 1 March 1920. After the election of Miklós Horthy as regent of Hungary, he continued his prime minister service until 15 March that year.
Ferenc Szálasi was also served as de facto head of state along his premiership during the far-right rule of Hungary from 16 October 1944 to 7 May 1945.
Béla Miklós also became acting head of state when he was elected as prime minister on 22 December 1944 in opposition to the far-right rule. His leader office lasted until 25 January 1945 when he was replaced by the High National Council, but continued as prime minister until 15 November that year.
Ferenc Nagy was elected as prime minister on 4 February 1946, but his parliament speakership that he held before officially ended three days later.
Mátyás Rákosi was also served as de facto head of state when he held the prime minister position from 14 August 1952 to 3 July 1953.
János Kádár was also served as de facto head of state when he held the prime minister position firstly from 4 November 1956 to 28 January 1958 and then from 13 September 1961 to 30 June 1965.
Károly Grósz was elected prime minister on 25 June 1987 and after eleven months he also became the de facto head of state. His premiership ended on 24 November 1988, after he continued only his latter office.
Non-official prime ministers
Among the 62 prime ministers who held the office at least one day during his life, 3 of them never did it in official status.
Ádám Récsey was appointed illegally by the Habsburg dynasty on 3 October 1848, despite the Hungarian Diet's decision that elected Lajos Kossuth as president of the Committee of National Defence a day earlier and also held this office as prime minister status. Four days later he resigned from his post.
Dezső Pattantyús-Ábrahám was served as head of the counter-revolutionary government from 12 July to 12 August in 1919 in opposition to the rule of communists.
Ferenc Keresztes-Fischer served twice as acting prime minister after the death of Pál Teleki (3 April 1941) and the resignation of László Bárdossy (7–9 March 1942).
Other notables
Dénes Berinkey served 7 days as acting prime minister before his official appointment on 18 January 1919.
Gyula Károlyi served as head of the counter-revolutionary government from 5 May to 12 July in 1919 in opposition to the rule of communists. Later he also held the position from 24 August 1931 to 1 October 1932 in official status.
István Friedrich served 8 days as acting prime minister before his official appointment on 15 August 1919.
Kámán Darányi served 6 days in acting status after the death of Gyula Gömbös, officially inagurated on 12 October 1936.
Béla Miklós was appointed as prime minister by the Interim Assembly on 22 December 1944, but served until 28 March 1945 in opposition to the far-right rule. After that, till 15 November 1945 he continued his premiership in official status.
Mátyás Rákosi served twice as acting prime minister from 1–4 February 1946 and again on 31 May 1947. Later he also held the position from 14 August 1952 to 4 July 1953 in official status.
Miklós Németh held a office from 24 November 1988 to 23 May 1990 but his last 212 days was provisional due to the transition from communist rule to democracy.
Péter Boross served 9 days in acting status after the death of József Antall, officially inagurated on 21 December 1993.
Other notables
The first non-noble born prime minister was Sándor Wekerle. Before his first appointment in 1892, only aristocrats held the office.
József Szlávy and Béla Wenckheim are the only prime ministers who never married, while Gyula Gömbös was married three times during his life, although his first and third wife was the same woman. Sándor Simonyi-Semadam's wife died in 1911, but he was appointed as prime minister on 15 March 1920 and was not married during his 126 days service.
Kálmán Tisza and István Tisza are the only father-son duo to both held the prime minister office in Hungarian history. Mihály Károlyi and Gyula Károlyi were cousins on paternal side, while Ferenc Nagy and Imre Nagy were related only by surname.
Many prime ministers had other non-Hungarian ancestries, such as German, Slovak, Romanian, Serbo-Croatian or Jewish, but no Gypsy/Romani one was until the present day despite being one of the largest ethnic groups in Hungary. Prime minister having ancestry outside Europe were also not.
Most of the prime ministers belonged to the different branches of Christianity or Judaism but some of them were atheist or officially was not a member of any church or religion.
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