History paper by Barta, Róbert
A Hungarian in the Shadow of High Politics: Emery Reves and the Modern World Press Propaganda
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
This paper proposes to survey Emery Reves (Révész Imre)’s political, personal and business career from the early 1920’s until his last active decade (1960’s). Révész Imre was a Hungarian-born (1904-Bácsföldvár-1981-Montreux) journalist, businessman and literary agent and later on he became famous as literary agent of W.S. Churchill. Reves and his company (Cooperation Press Service) was the main European and overseas distributor of Churchill’s articles on current world events until the death of the great British statesman. From 1941 Reves worked in the USA where he successfully managed to publish the war memoirs of Churchill. After WWII he appeared as one of the most important business and personal intimate of the former British premier. So began their profitable business relationship that grew over time into personal friendship.
The career, activity and works of Reves are almost unknown in Hungary, although we have some personal letters and other sources published in English (Winston Churchill and Emery Reves. Correspondence.1937-1964.Ed. by Martin Gilbert University of Texas Press, Austin, 1997., The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection. Ed. By Robert V. Rozelle. Dallas Museum of Art, 1985.). In this sense my paper (partially based on my own archival and historical research in England and Hungary) focusing on the personal career, ideas, works and business activities of Reves, and I try to put these aspects in the framework of international contacts. Reves wrote two books on a would-be new world order and these works became credo of world federalists (A Democratic Manifesto /1942/, The Anatomy of Peace/1945/). Reves could manage to place about two dozens Churchill articles in Hungarian daily newspapers (Az Újság, Pester Lloyd, Pesti Hírlap) in 1938-39 and distributed articles of pro-western Hungarian intellectuals and politicians (Kánya Kálmán, Hantos Elemér, etc.) in European newspapers.
So, my presentation emphasizes how a world citizen of Hungarian origin (Reves) has tried to build a bridge between world politics and Hungarian issues during his own activity and on his efforts to place Churchill’s pro-democracy articles in newspapers around the world.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
computer projection