Ernő Gerő ([ˈɛrnøː ˈɡɛrøː]; born Ernő Singer; 8 July 1898 – 12 March 1980) was a Hungarian Communist leader in the period after World War II and briefly in 1956 the most powerful man in Hungary as the leader of its ruling communist party.

Gerő was born in Terbegec, Hont County of the Kingdom of Hungary (now Trebušovce, Slovakia) to Jewish parents, although he later repudiated religion.

[citation needed] In the November 1945 election, the Hungarian Communist Party, under Gerő and Mátyás Rákosi, got 17% of the vote, compared to 57% for the Smallholders' Party, but the Soviet commander in Hungary, Marshal Kliment Voroshilov, installed a coalition government with communists in key posts.

Rákosi, having managed to regain control, was then undermined by Nikita Khrushchev's secret speech in early 1956 denouncing Stalinism and forced to leave office on 18 July 1956 by Anastas Mikoyan.

Gerő went to the Soviet Union, but after the revolution was crushed, the Communist government of Kádár initially refused to let him return to Hungary.

[citation needed] He was finally allowed to return from exile in 1960, but was promptly expelled from the Communist Party.