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Sándor Wekerle

Sándor Wekerle
Wekerle Sándor Benczúr.jpg
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary
In office
17 November 1892 – 14 January 1895
Monarch Francis Joseph I
Preceded by Gyula Szapáry
Succeeded by Dezső Bánffy
In office
8 April 1906 – 17 January 1910
Monarch Francis Joseph I
Preceded by Géza Fejérváry
Succeeded by Károly Khuen-Héderváry
In office
20 August 1917 – 30 October 1918
Monarch Charles IV
Preceded by Móric Esterházy
Succeeded by János Hadik
Personal details
Born (1848-11-14)14 November 1848
Mór, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire
Died 26 August 1921(1921-08-26) (aged 72)
Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary
Nationality Hungarian
Spouse(s) Gizella Molnár
Children Sándor
Profession Jurist, Politician

Sándor Wekerle (14 November 1848, Mór – 26 August 1921, Budapest) was a Hungarian politician who served three times as prime minister. He was the first non-noble to hold the office in Hungary.

He was born in Mór to a Danube Swabian family, in the comitatus of Fejér. His mother was Antónia Szép. After studying law at the University of Budapest he graduated doctor juris. He then entered the government service, and after a period of probation was appointed to a post in the ministry of finance. He still, however, continued an academic career by lecturing on political economy at the university.

In 1886 Wekerle was elected to the House of Deputies, became in the same year financial secretary of state, and in 1889 succeeded Kálmán Tisza as minister of finance. He immediately addressed himself to the task of improving the financial position of the country, carried out the conversion of the state loans, and succeeded, for the first time in the history of the Hungarian budget, in avoiding a deficit.

In November 1892 Wekerle succeeded Count Gyula Szapáry as premier, though still retaining the portfolio of finance. At the head of a strong government he was enabled, in spite of a powerful opposition of Catholics and Magnates, to carry in 1894 the Civil Marriage Bill. The continued opposition of the clerical party, however, brought about his resignation on 22 December 1894, when he was succeeded by Dezső Bánffy. On 1 January 1897 he was appointed president of the newly created judicial commission at Budapest, and for the next few years held aloof from politics, even under the ex-lex government of Khuen-Héderváry. On the reconciliation of the king-emperor with the coalition he was therefore selected as the most suitable man to lead the new government, and on 8 April 1906 was appointed prime minister, taking at the same time the portfolio of finance. He resigned the premiership on 27 April 1909, but was not relieved of his office until the formation of the Khuen-Héderváry cabinet on 17 January 1910.


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