Dr. Sándor Popovics (Pest, 1862 – Budapest, 1935)
The first president of Magyar Nemzeti Bank was born on 22 October 1862. He graduated as a doctor of law and later completed his Public Administration studies.
His career started as a trainee rapporteur in the Ministry of Finance in 1884. Later he became an assistant rapporteur, ministerial rapporteur, ministerial secretary, department consultant, ministerial consultant, ministerial state secretary, and in 1908 he became state secretary at the Ministry of Finance.
He assisted Minister of Finance, Sándor Wekerle in preparing major financial decisions. He was awarded a 3rd class Order of the Iron Crown by Franz Joseph for his activities in the field of currency regulation associated with the introduction of the korona in 1892. During his ministerial consultant years, he acted as the head of the treasury, loan, railway, and economic department. His merits were acknowledged by awarding the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold, the small cross of the Order of Saint Stephen, class 1 of the Order of the Iron Crown by the ruler besides a domestic secret counsellor title.
As a member of the parliament for Pozsony between 1906 and 1909, he was involved in the preparation of legislation. He resigned his mandate after being appointed to be a bank governor.
The Ministers of Finance of both the Austrian and Hungarian governments proposed individuals to become chief governors of the Austro–Hungarian Bank. Sándor Popovics held this title between 1909 and 1918 and resigned to become a Minister of Finance. He had a major role in the economic negotiations with Austria and in extending the patent of the Austro–Hungarian Bank.
He was a member of the Hungarian peace delegation at the peace negotiations around Paris in 1920. Hungarian Royal State Note Issuing Institute was established in 1921 in order to implement the financial regulations of the peace treaty, but it also had central bank functions. Popovics accepted the presidency.
The name of Sándor Popovics, who was 62 years old at the time, was mentioned as a possible president in 1924 when the establishment of Magyar Nemzeti Bank was under preparation. It took him a while to contemplate the option, but finally accepted the position and filled it in until 1935. His professional authority, knowledge and expertise were highly valued in both London and Geneva. His position also made him a member of the Upper House of the Parliament. He worked hard to reduce post-war inflation. Popovics was involved in the introduction of pengő when korona was devaluated. He was considered to be a conservative banker and worked on preserving the bank’s independence.
He represented Hungary at the World Economic Conference convened in 1927 under the umbrella of the Leage of Nations. He acted as a financial policy and foreign currency expert for the Hungarian government during the Great Depression in 1931.
Beyond his mother tongue, he spoke excellent French, English, Italian, German and Latin. His scientific achievements were recognised when he was elected an honorary member and later vice president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He donated 10 million koronas to the Academy in 1926 and an additional 4,000 pengős a year later. He was an author of Lexicon in Economics (Közgazdasági Lexikon) and Encyclopedia in Economics (Közgazdasági Enciklopédia). He wrote several articles and studies.
His main books include:
Fate of money in war (A pénz sorsa a háborúban) (Budapest, 1926)
How to preserve the value of money (A pénz értékállandósága) (Budapest, 1929)
Economic impacts of social organisations (A társadalmi szervezkedések gazdasági hatásai) (Budapest, 1931)
He resigned from his position as the president of the central bank due to a disease and passed away on 15 April 1935. His bier was displayed in the lobby of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and he was laid to rest in peace in the Kerepesi út cemetary.
“Sándor Popovics monitors and supports the entire Hungarian economy with the care of a father... he can see everything, knows everyone... he knows about everything... he is a living statue, a solid rock, lovable, gentle and wise.” (Lóránt Hegedűs: In memoriam Sándor Popovics (Popovics Sándor emlékezete). Tributes to deceased members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. (Az MTA elhunyt tagjai fölött tartott emlékbeszédek.) Vol XXIII, No. 7., Budapest, 1940)
“Magyar Nemzeti Bank was established with the main intention of restoring the deteriorated order of money.”