Elek Köblös (; 12 May 1887 – 9 October 1938) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Hungarian and Romanian communist activist and political leader. He was also known by the pseudonyms Balthazar, Bădulescu, and Dănilă. He served as general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1924 to 1927 and was executed in the Soviet Union during the Great Purge. Biography Early years Köblös was born on 12 May 1887 into an ethnic Hungarian family in Sáromberke (present-day Dumbrăvioara, part of Ernei, Mureș County) in Transylvania. After completing elementary school in his native village, he continued his studies in Nagyenyed (today Aiud, Romania). He dropped out of school after four years, and started as an apprentice carpenter in Marosvásárhely (today Târgu Mureș). As a carpenter, Köblös became active in the trade union movement and was won over to the ideas of revolutionary socialism. He took part in revolutionary activities in the Austro-Hungarian empire at the end of 1918, fighting against Romanian troops in defense of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, during the Hungarian–Romanian War. When Transylvania was incorporated into the Kingdom of Romania in 1920, Köblös became a Romanian citizen. Political career Köblös was a delegate to the May 1921 Congress of the Socialist Party of Romania, where supporters of the Russian October Revolution established the "Socialist-Communist Party" (soon renamed the Romanian Communist Party). Köblös was arrested at the closing of the Congress on 12 May 1921 and implicated in the Dealul Spirii Trial before being released in 1922. In October 1922, at the 2nd Congress of the Communist Party held at Ploiești, Köblös was elected member of the Central Committee, together with Gheorghe Cristescu, Alexandru Dobrogeanu-Gherea, Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu, Marcel Pauker, Eugen Rozvan, and Boris Stefanov. Köblös headed the party's trade union section, with particular attention given to the woodworkers' union, of which he was the head. In 1924, at the 3rd Congress held in Vienna, Köblös was appointed general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party, replacing the disillusioned Gheorghe Cristescu. He continued in this position until 1927. During this period, Köblös came into conflict with Marcel Pauker. In the summer of 1924, Köblös travelled to the Soviet Union, where he attended the 4th World Congress of the Communist International on behalf of the Romanian party. Köblös returned to Romania in 1925, where he headed a secret meeting of the party Central Committee in July, which decided to use the existing workers' and peasants'