Skip to main content

Primary sourcePhotograph1928

Portrait of Béla Kun, 1928

Unknown author · 1928

A 1928 photographic portrait of Béla Kun, the Hungarian communist revolutionary, taken during his lifetime.

A lifetime portrait photograph of Béla Kun, taken nearly a decade after his leadership of the Hungarian Soviet Republic.

Ask Béla Kun about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Black and white sepia-toned portrait of a bald man in a dark suit, white shirt, and dark tie, with a small lapel pin, seated in a chair with his hands clasped on his knee. Plain light background.
Béla Kun, Hungarian politician and communist, portrait photograph, 1928.

About this source

What it is

A black-and-white, sepia-toned photographic portrait of Béla Kun from 1928, held in a Dutch archive. It shows him seated, wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and tie, with his hands clasped on his knee.

Why it matters

This image documents how Kun appeared years after leading the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, by which time he was living in exile and remained active in international communist politics. Portraits like this were often used in newspapers, archives, and political materials to put a face to prominent revolutionary figures.

Look closer

  • What does Kun's clothing and posture suggest about how he wanted to be seen in 1928?
  • Why might this photograph have been taken and preserved by an archive?
  • What can and can't a formal portrait like this tell us about a person's political actions?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Béla Kun on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Béla Kun sources

Meet the AI Béla Kun →
Front page of the first issue of the Hungarian newspaper Vörös Ujság, dated Budapest, 1918 December 7, with the masthead 'VÖRÖS ÚJSÁG' and subtitle 'KOMMUNISTA LAP', and a lead editorial titled 'Osztályharcot!' in several columns of Hungarian text.Newspaper article

Primary source

Vörös Újság: First Editorial

Béla Kun · 7 December 1918

Spine and cover of a bound book with a dark green spine and grey-brown boards. Gold lettering on the spine reads 'TREATY OF PEACE... HUNGARY' and 'Cmd. 896'. A white library barcode label reads 'DOCS. COLL. CU-1' and 'D001182819'. A Google digitized watermark appears at the lower right.Document

Primary source

Treaty of Trianon

4 June 1920

Black and white photograph of a man in a dark suit and vest speaking to a dense crowd of men in hats in front of a building; other men sit on a rooftop and balcony at left and right.Photograph

Primary source

Béla Kun, Leader of the 1919 Hungarian Revolution

1919

Photograph of a yellowed Nazi propaganda pamphlet titled 'Die Totengräber Russlands' with a headline 'Nicht wegwerfen!' and 'Weitergeben!'. It has rows of ink caricatures of men's faces with text captions naming Soviet communist leaders, and the slogan 'Vor dem bolschewistischen Chaos bewahrt uns nur Adolf Hitler!' at the bottom. A handwritten note 'März 1937' is at the top left.Photograph

Primary source

Die Totengräber Russlands

March 1937

Sepia photograph of a dense crowd of men in hats and coats gathered in a city square in front of a stone building with arched windows. Lamp post and banners rise above them; a large statue on a pedestal stands at right, and a man on the far right holds a flag.Photograph

Primary source

Sándor Garbai and Béla Kun, Leaders of the Hungarian Soviet Republic

1919

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Béla Kun now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions