Gyula Ortutay was a Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 ethnographer and politician, who served as Minister of Religion and Education between 1947 and 1950.

Early life

Born in Szabadka (now: Subotica, Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

) to a Catholic petty bourgeois family. His parents were István Ortutay journalist, editor of the Szegedi Napló and Ilona Borsodi. He finished his secondary school studies at the piarists

Piarists

The Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools or, in short, Piarists , is the name of the oldest Catholic educational order also known as the Scolopi, Escolapios or Poor Clerics of the Mother of God...

 in Szeged. After that he attended the Franz Joseph University

University of Szeged

The University of Szeged is one of Hungary's most distinguished universities, and is among the most prominent higher education institutions in Central Europe...

 from 1928. His psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

 teacher was Hildebrand Dezső Várkonyi

Hildebrand Dezső Várkonyi

Hildebrand Dezső Várkonyi was a monk and a teacher of Bencés order. Várkonyi was a respected and well-known Hungarian philosopher, pedagogue and psychologist....

. Soon he was making left-wing friends such as Miklós Radnóti

Miklós Radnóti

Miklós Radnóti, birth name Miklós Glatter was a Hungarian poet who died in The Holocaust.-Personality and early life:...

, Gábor Tolnai, Dezső Baróti, Ferenc Erdei

Ferenc Erdei

Ferenc Erdei was a Hungarian politician, who served as Interior Minister in the unofficial Interim government which led by Béla Miklós. After the Soviet occupation of Hungary the cabinet could take the office officially . During the communist rule Erdei was the Minister of Agriculture between 1949...

, György Buday and Viola Tomori.

He married to Zsuzsa Kemény, who served as chairperson of the Hungarian Dance Association from 1948, in 1938. They have three children: Mária (psychologist), Tamás (ceramist) and Zsuzsanna (district nurse).

Political career

He got into contact with the communist intellectuals (László Orbán

László Orbán (politician)

László Orbán was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Culture between 1974 and 1976. He was a member of the National Assembly of Hungary between 1943 and 1953 and from 1958 until his death.-References:*...

, Gyula Kállai

Gyula Kállai

Gyula Kállai was a Hungarian Communist politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary from 1965 to 1967 and as Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary 1967–1971. He was President of National Council of the Patriotic People's Front from 1957 to...

, Ferenc Hont) in the end of the 1930s. but Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky

Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky

Endre Kálmán Bajcsy-Zsilinszky , was an influential Hungarian politician and an important voice in the struggle against German expansion and military policy.-Family history:...

 had the largest effect on him. From 1942 he participated in the antifascist movements. In the next year he joined to the Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party

Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party

The Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party is a political party in Hungary...

 (FKGP). He was Secretary-General of the National Council of The People's Patriotic Front.