Béla Barabás

Who was Béla Barabás?

Béla Barabás was a Hungarian politician, jurist and author.

He studied in Kolozsvár. He graduated law studies at the University of Budapest in 1879. Barabás became leader of the Independence Party in his birthplace. He was a member of the House of Representatives between 1892 and 1910, and he was one of the leading figures in the opposition's obstruction during the Hungarian Constitutional Crisis of 1903–1907. At the occasion of 1910 elections he lost his mandate, but one year later he gain a seat in a by-election. In 1914 he went with Mihály Károlyi to the United States tour. He became lord lieutenant of Arad County in 1917.

After the Treaty of Trianon Barabás stayed in Transylvania and soon became one of the leaders of the Hungarian minority. He was a deputy chairman of the Magyar Party since 1922. He became a member of the Senate of Romania in 1926. Barabás also had a significant journalistic activity in local and national newspapers. He was editor of the Arad és Vidéke for a short time. He served as chief editor of Aradi Magyar Újság from 1926 to 1927.