The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1985 (12. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)

1985-05-01 / 5. szám

Count Aladar Maurice Benyovszky:

THE HUNGARIAN EMPEROR OF MADAGASCAR

—by—

Paul Pulitzer

A Hungarian-style “BELIEVE IT OR NOT’’ began on the last day of May about 214 years ago. The curtain on this strange drama went up on May 31,1771, when a decrepit vessel, captained and crewed by bribed Russians and flying the flag of the “Confederation of Bar” of Poland, stealthily slipped out of the harbor fronting the Siberian prisonsettlement of Borsereck located on the Kamchatka Peninsula whose shores are washed by the Pacific Ocean. On board, were 96 men and women of mixed nationalities, who under the leadership of an incredible Hungarian, had overpowered their brutal Russian guards, destroyed the prison-settlement in which they were incarcerated, and had set sail for freedom from captivity. The Hungarian, who made this possible, was the intrepid Count Aladar Maurice Benyovszky, who had personally killed the Russian commander of the prison-settlement whose daughter, Afanasia, was his mistress and was one of the women aboard the escaping sloop.

Bom in Hungary in 1741, Count Aladar Maurice Benyovszky was the son of a Hussar General in the Austro-Hungarian Army of the Empress Maria Theresa. When he was only 10 years old, he was already a Hussar under his father’s command. When the old general passed away, young Aladar got into a bloody argument with his stepbrothers over who was to be the legal heir to the vast Benyovszky estate in Hungary. The end result of this demonstration of brotherly love was that Aladar was compelled to consider it prudent to pay a visit to his uncle in Poland for awhile. There, he began dreaming about becoming a sailor and seeing the world. But when his doting uncle died and left him his estate, Aladar sprouted up as a member of the Landed Nobility of Poland and soon joined Casimir Pulaski’s ill-fated “Confederation of Bar”, which was an underground organization dedicated to the overthrow of the Russian-imposed, King of Poland and his noble followers, the eviction of Russian troops from Polish soil, and establishment of a “Republic of Poland”.

Because of his military expertise, Benyovszky soon became a Colonel of Cavalry in the Army of Liberation of the Confederation of Bar and one of the most successful commanders fighting against the Russians. Unfortunately, however, May, 1985

the leaders of the Confederation did more fighting among themselves than against the enemy and this disgusted the brilliant Colonel of Cavalry so much that he packed up and returned to Hungary. There, he settled down, got married, and became the father of a son. His destiny, however, was not to be the peaceful life. For, when the Confederation of Bar saw that their cause was on the brink of disaster, Pulaski begged him to return to Poland and help turn the tide against the rampaging Russians. Considering it a matter of honor to do so, Benyovszky returned to Poland. But, by the time he had arrived, the argumentive leaders of the Confederation had either fled into exile, or had surrendered to the tender mercies of the Russians. He was left alone to face the overwhelming might of the Czar’s troops. Hastily forming his few cavalrymen into some semblence of battle order, he attacked the Russians head-on. Severely wounded, he was taken prisoner, bandaged up, and transported in chains to a prisoncamp deep in Central Russia. There, in spite of his wounds, he quickly organized and led a violent break-out. Although the mass escape attempt was put down ruthlessly, he managed to get away and, after a gruelling hike as far as St. Petersburg, where he hoped to stowaway aboard a ship, his luck ran out. Squealed on by a paid informer, he was arrested, sentenced, and transported to the prisonsettlement of Borsereck in Siberia. But, even that remote outpost could not keep him in confinement. He escaped with 96 other prisoners, including his Russian mistress.

After wandering around the Pacific for several miserable weeks aboard the Russian sloop, Benyovszky and his party of 96 escapees stopped off at a small Japanese island, where he cemented excellent relations with its leaders and inhabitants. After a good rest on land and revictualizing their vessel with supplies, the party then set sail for the island of Formosa. There, Benyovszky, true to form, gave the natives a hand in defeating marauding tribes and, in fact, liked the place so much that he formulated plans to colonize the island with Hungarians!

Becoming restless to move on, the escapees from Russian captivity set sail again and finally reached Macao, the Portugese colony off the coast of China. There, they decided to split up and go

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their separate ways. Meanwhile, Afanasia, who idolized the dashing Benyovszky, fell victim to yellow fever and died. Left all alone, Benyovszky paid a visit to the French Consul and offered his services to France. Impressed by the applicant’s credentials, the Consul made immediate arrangements for the Hungarian to sail to France. When he finally arrived in Paris after months of hard travel, he was interviewed by King Louis XV, who bestowed upon him the title of “Count”, comissioned him a “Colonel” in the French Cavalry, and then assigned him the task of establishing a French colony on the island of Madagascar!

Count Aladar Maurice Benyovszky, accompanied by his wife and son, Charles, who were brought to France from Hungary to join him, and a small task force of troopers, set sail for Madagascar and arrived on the island in February of 1774. Soon, he and his men were helping the “King” of one of the more civilized tribes defeat all of the others on the island and to unite them under one supreme ruler. This development annoyed the French Governor of another island not far from Madagascar and, when tipped off by a spy that Benyovszky’s men were dying off like flies from Em epidemic of yellow fever and becoming mutinous, he launched Em invasion. Why a French Governor appointed by the King of France decided to attack another island scheduled for French colonization under orders of the same king, has never been explained. But, by super-human effort, Benyovszky repelled the invaders and inflicted upon them heavy losses in men and material. Overjoyed by this victory, the native chiefs assembled and, in 1776, unanimously elected him Emperor of Madagascar!

When the newly elected, supreme ruler of the island of Madagascsir assumed office, he immediately organized and trained a national army, established a federal government, introduced a Latin lEmguage with Magyar spelling, abolished slavery, and set up a Supreme Court to handle cases involving women. The first Chief Justice of this Court was Mrs. Aladar Maurice Benyovszky!

Having shaped up his Empire ready for French colonization, Benyovszky then turned his attention to establishing diplomatic relations with other nations.

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