János József Kádár, born János József Czermanik, was a Hungarian communist leader and the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, a position he would serve in for 32 years. Declining health led to his retirement in 1988, and he would die a year later in 1989.
Kádár was born in Fiume in poverty to a single mother. After living in the countryside for some years, Kádár and his mother moved to Budapest. He joined the Party of Communists in Hungary's youth organisation, KIMSZ and went on to become a prominent figure in the pre-1939 Communist Party, eventually becoming First Secretary. As leader, he would dissolve the party and reorganise it as the Peace Party however, the new party would fail to win much popular support.
After World War II, with Soviet support, the Communist Party would take power in Hungary. Kádár rose through the Party ranks, serving as Interior Minister from 1948 to 1950. In 1951 he was imprisoned by the government of Mátyás Rákosi, but was released in 1954 by reformist Prime Minister Imre Nagy.