Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (; ; ; ; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman, revolutionist and governor-president of the Hungarian State during the war of independence of 1848–1849.
Kossuth, known for his public speaking skills, rose from a lesser noble (gentry) background to become regent-president during the 1848–1849 Hungarian revolution. As the influential contemporary American journalist Horace Greeley said of Kossuth: "Among the orators, patriots, statesmen, exiles, he has, living or dead, no superior."
Kossuth's powerful speeches so impressed and touched the famous contemporary American orator Daniel Webster, that he wrote a book about Kossuth's life. During his lifetime, Kossuth was publicly honored in countries such as Great Britain and the United States, where he was viewed by some supporters as a symbol of democratic movements in Europe. Kossuth's bronze bust can be found in the United States Capitol with the inscription: Father of Hungarian Democracy, Hungarian Statesman, Freedom Fighter, 1848–1849. Friedrich Engels considered him to be "a truly revolutionary figure, a man who in the name of his people dares to accept the challenge of a desperate struggle, who for his nation is Danton and Carnot in one person...".
Early years
Lajos Kossuth was born into an untitled lower noble (gentry) family in Monok, Kingdom of Hungary, a small town in the county of Zemplén in modern-day Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County of Northern Hungary. He was the eldest of five children in a Lutheran noble family of Slovak origin. His father, László Kossuth (1762–1839), belonged to the lower nobility, had a small estate and was a lawyer by profession. László had two brothers (Simon Kossuth and György Kossuth) and one sister, Johanna.
The family moved from Monok to Olaszliszka in 1803, and then to Sátoraljaújhely in 1808. Lajos had four younger sisters including Zsuzsanna.
Lajos' mother, Karolina, raised her children as strict Lutherans. As a result of their mixed ancestry, and as was quite common during his era, her children spoke three languages – Hungarian, German and Slovak – even in their early childhood.
Lajos studied at the Piarist college of Sátoraljaújhely and the Calvinist college of Sárospatak (for one year) and the University of Pest (now Budapest). At nineteen he entered his father's legal practice. Between 1824 and 1832 he practiced law in his native Zemplén County. His legal and political career advanced steadily, partly due to family connections, as his father, who was a lawyer for several higher aristocratic families, and thus involved his son in the administration, and his son soon took over some of his father's work. He first became a lawyer in the Lutheran parish of Sátoraljaújhely, in 1827 he became a judge, and later he became a prosecutor in Sátoraljaújhely. During this time, in addition to his office work, he made historical chronologies and translations. In the national census of 1828, in which taxpayers were counted in order to eliminate tax disparities, Kossuth assisted in the organization of the census of Zemplén county. He was popular locally, and having been appointed steward to the countess Szapáry, a widow with large estates, he became her voting representative in the county assembly and settled in Pest. He was subsequently dismissed on the grounds of some misunderstanding in regards to estate funds.
Ancestry
The House of Kossuth, into which Lajos was born, originated from the county of Turóc (now partially Turiec region, Košúty, north-central Slovakia). They acquired the rank of nobility in 1263 from King Béla IV. The Kossuths married into the Zathureczky, Nedeczky, Borcsány, and Prónay families, amongst others. Lajos Kossuth's paternal grandmother was a Beniczky and her Beniczky ancestors had married into the following families: Farkas, Zmeskal (one-eight Polish ancestry); Révay, Pajor (one-quarter German Baierle Magyarized to Pajor); and finally, Prónay. Lajos Kossuth's mother, Karolina Weber (1770–1853), was born to a Lutheran family (Kaltensteìn-Hidegkövy) of three-quarters-German and Magyarized-German (with one-quarter of their descent unknown), living in Upper Hungary (today partially Slovakia).
+ Lajos Kossuth László Kossuth de Udvard (Kossut, 23 June 1765– https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KSTL-RHH Alsódabas, 13 March 1839) uradalmi ügyész (financial and legal supervisor of a manor) Pál Kossuth de Udvard (Kisraksa, 20 May 1738 – 1791) a (county court judge) in Turóc County György Kossuth de Udvard Katalin Raksányi de Raksa (1701 – Kisraksa, 8 November 1759) Beniczky Zsuzsánna de Benicze et Micsinye (Pribóc, 10 January 1737 – ?) Péter Beniczky de Benicze et MicsinyeVö.: Nagy Iván: Magyarország családai czímerekkel és nemzékrendi táblákkal: I. kötet (Aaron - Benyovszky). Pest: Friebeisz István. 1857. 296. o. III. tábla, Zsuzsa, a IV. Péter (Prónay Évától) Éva Prónay de Tótpróna et Blatnica Karolina Weber de Tyrling (Liszka, 1770 – Brussels, 28 December 1852) András Weber de Tyrling postmaster unknown unknown noble Erzsébet Hidegkövy (Kaltenstein) noble Tóbiás Hidegkövy (Kaltenstein; born in Sátoraljaújhely), pharmacistVö.: Nagy Iván: Magyarország családai czímerekkel és nemzékrendi táblákkal: V. kötet (Haagen - Justh). Pest: Ráth Mór. 1859. 110. o.: "Hidegkőy család: Hidegkőy előbb Klatenstein Tóbiás 1792-ben kelt czimeres nemes levél által nemesittetett meg. (...)" Anna Mária Musczler
Entry into national politics
Shortly after his dismissal by Countess Szapáry, Kossuth was appointed as deputy to Count Hunyady at the Diet of Hungary. The Diet met during 1825–27 and 1832–36 in Pressburg (Pozsony, present Bratislava), then capital of Hungary.
Only the upper aristocracy could vote in the House of Magnates (similar to the British House of Lords) and Kossuth took little part in the debates as a deputy of Count Hunyady. At the time, a struggle to reassert a Hungarian national identity was beginning to emerge under leaders such as Miklós Wesselényi and the Széchenyis. In part, it was also a struggle for fundamental economic and political and societal reforms against the stagnant and conservative Austrian government. Kossuth's duties to Count Hunyady included reporting on Diet proceedings in writing, as the Austrian government, fearing popular dissent, had banned published reports.
The high quality of Kossuth's letters led to their being circulated in manuscript among other liberal magnates. Readership demands led him to edit an organized parliamentary gazette (Országgyűlési tudósítások); spreading his name and influence further. Orders from the Official Censor halted circulation by lithograph printing. Distribution in manuscript by post was forbidden by the government, although circulation by hand continued.
In 1836, the Diet was dissolved. Kossuth continued to report (in letter form), covering the debates of the county assemblies. The newfound publicity gave the assemblies national political prominence. Previously, they had had little idea of each other's proceedings. His embellishment of the speeches from the liberals and reformers enhanced the impact of his newsletters. After the prohibition of his parliamentary gazette, Kossuth loudly demanded the legal declaration of freedom of the press and of speech in Hungary and in the entire Habsburg Empire. The government attempted in vain to suppress the letters, and, other means having failed, he was arrested in May 1837, with Wesselényi and several others, on a charge of high treason.
After spending a year in prison at Buda awaiting trial, he was condemned to four more years' imprisonment. Kossuth and his friend Count Miklós Wesselényi were placed in separated solitary cells. Count Wesselényi's cell did not have even a window, and he went blind in the darkness. Kossuth, however, had a small window and with the help of a politically well-informed young woman, Theresa Meszlényi, he remained informed about political events. Meszlényi lied to the prison commander, telling him she and Kossuth were engaged. In reality, Kossuth did not know Meszlényi before his imprisonment, but this permitted her to visit. Meszlényi also provided books. Strict confinement damaged Kossuth's health, but he spent much time reading. He greatly increased his political knowledge and acquired fluency in English from study of the King James Version of the Bible and William Shakespeare which he henceforth always spoke with a certain archaic eloquence. While Wesselényi was broken mentally, Kossuth, supported by Terézia Meszlényi's frequent visits, emerged from prison in much better condition. His arrest had caused great controversy. The Diet, which reconvened in 1839, demanded the release of the political prisoners and refused to pass any government measures. Austrian chancellor Metternich long remained obdurate, but the danger of war in 1840 obliged him to give way.
Marriage and children
On the day of his release from the prison, Kossuth and Meszlényi were married, and she remained a firm supporter of his politics. She was a Catholic and her Church refused to bless the marriage since Kossuth, a proud Protestant, would not convert. At the time of their marriage it was unheard of that people of different religions married. According to the traditional practice, the bride or more rarely the fiancé had to convert to the religion of his or her spouse before the wedding ceremony. However Kossuth refused to convert to Roman Catholicism, and Meszlényi also refused to convert to Lutheranism. Their mixed religious marriage caused a great scandal at the time. This experience influenced Kossuth's firm defense of mixed marriages. The couple had three children: Ferenc Lajos Ákos (1841–1914), Minister for Trade between 1906 and 1910; Vilma (1843–1862); and Lajos Tódor Károly (1844–1918).
Journalist and political leader
Kossuth gained national prominence and public recognition during this period. He regained full health in January 1841. In January 1841 he became editor of the Pesti Hírlap. The job was offered to him by Lajos Landerer, the owner of a big printing house company in Pest (in fact, Landerer was an undercover agent of the Vienna secret police). The government circles and the secret police believed that censorship and financial interests would curtail Kossuth's opposition, and they did not consider the small circulation of the paper to be dangerous anyway. However, Kossuth played a significant role in shaping modern Hungarian political journalism. His editorials dealt with the pressing problems of the economy, the social injustices and the existing legal inequality of the common people. The articles combined a critique of the present with an outline of the future, combining and supplementing the reform ideas that had emerged up to that point into a coherent programme. The paper achieved unprecedented success, soon reaching the then immense circulation of 7000 copies. A competing pro-government newspaper, Világ(World), started up, but despite its attacks against Kossuth's ideas, it became counterproductive, and it only served to increase Kossuth's visibility and add to the general political fervor.
Kossuth's ideas stand on the enlightened Western European type liberal nationalism (based on the "jus soli" principle, that is the complete opposite of the typical Eastern European ethnic nationalism, which was based on "jus sanguinis").
Kossuth followed the ideas of the French nation state ideology, which was a ruling liberal idea of his era. Accordingly, he considered and regarded automatically everybody as "Hungarian" – regardless of their mother tongue and ethnic ancestry – who were born and lived in the territory of Hungary. He even quoted King Stephen I of Hungary's admonition: "A nation of one language and the same customs is weak and fragile."