Teleki, Count Paul

Teleki, Count Paul (tĕ`lĕkĭ), 1879–1941, Hungarian premier (1920–21, 1939–41), geographer, and political writer. He studied law, political science, and geography at the Univ. of Budapest, where he later held a chair in geography. A member of the Hungarian parliament from 1905, he was the official geographic expert in the Hungarian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–20) and was foreign minister in the counterrevolutionary government at Szeged. Appointed (1920) premier by Admiral Horthy, he secured the ratification of the Treaty of Trianon by the Hungarian parliament. He retired from politics in 1921 and was replaced as premier by Stephen Bethlen. Called again to the premiership in 1939, he signed (1940) the Berlin Pact (see Axis) and concluded a mutual-assistance treaty with Yugoslavia. When, early in 1941, it became evident that Hungary would be forced by Germany to invade Yugoslavia, Teleki committed suicide. Teleki's best-known work is The Evolution of Hungary and Its Place in European History (1923, in English).