Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva

Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (Louis Kossuth) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman and Governor-President of the Kingdom of Hungary during the revolution of 1848–49.

With the help of his talent in oratory in political debates and public speeches, Kossuth emerged from a poor gentry family into regent-president of Kingdom of Hungary. 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 English and American speeches so impressed and touched the famous contemporary American orator Daniel Webster, that he wrote a book about Kossuth's life. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in Great Britain and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy 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.

Kossuth was born in Monok, Kingdom of Hungary, a small town in the county of Zemplén, as the oldest of four children in a Lutheran noble family of partial Slovak origin. His father, László Kossuth (1762–1839), belonged to the lower nobility, had a small estate and was a lawyer by profession. László Kossuth had two brothers (Simon Kossuth and György Kossuth) and one sister (Jana). The House of Kossuth 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. Lajos Kossuth's mother, Karolina Weber (1770–1853), was born to a Lutheran family of partial German descent, living in Upper Hungary (today partially Slovakia).

Karolina Kossuth raised her children as strict Lutherans. As a result of his mixed ancestry, and as was quite common during his era, he spoke (at least) three languages – Hungarian, German and Slovak since his early childhood. Kossuth studied at the Piarist college of Sátoraljaújhely and one year in the Calvinist college of Sárospatak and the University of Pest (now Budapest). Aged nineteen, he entered his father's legal practice. 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.

Shortly after his dismissal by Countess Szapáry, Kossuth was appointed as deputy to Count Hunyady at the National Diet. 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 House of Lords in Britain) and Kossuth took little part in the debates. At the time, a struggle to reassert a Hungarian national identity was beginning to emerge under leaders such as Wesselényi and the Széchenyis. In part, it was also a struggle for economic and political reforms against the stagnant 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.[9][better source needed] 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. His strict confinement damaged his health, but he was allowed to read. He greatly increased his political knowledge, and also acquired, from the study of the King James version of the Bible and Shakespeare, a thorough knowledge of English.

Kossuth's arrests caused great controversy. The Diet, which reconvened in 1839, demanded the release of the prisoners, and refused to pass any government measures. Austrian prime minister Metternich long remained obdurate, but the danger of war in 1840 obliged him to give way. While Wesselényi had been broken by his imprisonment, Kossuth, partly supported by the frequent visits of Terézia Meszlényi, emerged from prison in better conditions.

Immediately after his release, Kossuth and Terézia Meszlényi were married, and she remained a firm supporter of his politics. Meszlényi was a Catholic and her Church refused to bless the marriage, as Kossuth, a Protestant, would not convert. This experience influenced Kossuth's firm defense of mixed marriages. They had three children: Ferenc Lajos Ákos (1841–1914), who was Minister for Trade between 1906 and 1910; Vilma (1843–1862); and Lajos Tódor Károly (1844–1918).

Ügyvéd, hírlapíró, lapszerkesztő, m. kir. pénzügyminiszter: 1848. április 7. - 1848. szept. 12-ig, a Honvédelmi Bizottmány elnöke: 1848. okt. 8. - 1849. ápr. 14-ig, Magyarország kormányzója: 1849.ápr.14.-1849.aug.11. –ig (Regent of Hungary)

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