ABSTRACT

This chapter is based on a close reading of the memoirs of MÁtyÁs RÁkosi, the former Chief Secretary of the Hungarian Workers’ Party, which were written in Soviet exile in the 1960s. While the best part of the four volumes is devoted to justifying his actions as the prime agent of Hungary’s Stalinisation, the account of his childhood and teenage years offers a detailed, well-informed and quite accurate analysis of rural society in fin-de-siècle Hungary and contains lengthy descriptions of RÁkosi’s travels to the West, to Hamburg and London, in particular. As a student of the Eastern Academy – a third-level institution specialising in teaching commerce – he was granted the opportunity to study abroad and gain some practical experience as well. RÁkosi chose to travel to two of the most significant hubs of the world’s economy in the early twentieth century. The two journeys were not merely study trips, but contributed significantly to the development of RÁkosi’s political views. The chapter analyses how cultural encounters in two of the busiest metropolises in Europe at the time shaped the personality as well as the political identity of the Hungarian Communist.