Unwin , Peter , b 1933 , diplomat

Peter Unwin (1933-) joined the Foreign Office in 1956. In 1958 his first overseas posting was to Hungary. He left in 1961 but returned in 1983-1986 to serve as British Ambassador. His involvement with Hungarian affairs led to an interest in the Hungarian leader Imre Nagy (1896-1958). Nagy was a member of the Hungarian Government after 1944 and in 1953 became Prime Minister. He was driven from power in 1955 after adopting revisionist policies which angered the Soviet Government and communist hardliners in Hungary. After the 1956 revolution broke out, Nagy sympathised with the rebels, and returned to power, withdrawing hungary from the Warsaw Pact and agreeing to free elections. After the revolution was crushed by the Soviet invasion, Nagy sought asylum in the Yugoslav Embassy but as he left on safe conduct he was seized by the Soviets and executed in 1958. In 1989 he was given a state reburial in Budapest.