Fraternity-Testvériség, 2002 (80. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

2002-01-01 / 1. szám

Page 8

TESTVÉRISÉG

COMMEMORATING KOSSUTH’S VISIT TO WASHINGTON, D.C. IN 1852

Seeking support for democratic rule in Hungary, Louis Kossuth toured the United States from December 1851 to June 1852.

During this period, he spoke at several hundred locations, including Washington, DC, where he addressed both Houses of Congress (an honor rarely, if ever, given to a foreign diplomat).

To commemorate the honor bestowed on Kossuth by the U.S. House of Representatives at its Legislative Banquet on January 7, 1852, in Washington, DC, the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America and the Ethnic Hungarian Community of Greater Washington, D.C. hosted a reception on that same day - January 7, 2002 - 150 years later.

President George Dózsa welcomed the assembled guests: Mr. Joseph Toth, charge d’affairs, Hungarian Embassy; Ms. Gyöngyi Jozsa, cultural attaché, Hungarian Embassy and her spouse; Prof. August J. Molnár, President, American Hungarian Foundation; Mr. Anthony C.

Beke, Chairman, William Penn Association; Mr. László Pentek, Actuary, D.C. Insurance Dept.; Mr. John M. Coleman, Chief Examiner, D.C. Insurance Dept.; Mrs. Maxine Lewis, President, Chesapeake Fraternal Congress; Mr. László Hamos, HRFA Director and President, Hungarian Human Rights Foundation; Ms. Priscilla Hunyady, Chairman of the HRFA; Rev. Stefan M. Torok, President/CEO of the HRFA; Home Office employees, and other guests from the Hungarian community in Washington, D.C. President Dózsa thanked Mrs. Theresa Takacs for her invaluable help in putting together the Home Office’s exhibit on Kossuth’s visit to the United States. He also paid tribute to the late Dr. Elemer Bako, who was instrumental in creating this exhibit with the help of the late Paul Takacs in 1994.

Mr. Toth conveyed the greetings of the Hungarian Ambassador Mr. Géza Jeszenszky and delivered a short speech. Mr. William Bela Puskas, Jr., Chief Financial Officer then presented the following address that he had prepared for this occasion:

“WHO IS LOUIS KOSSUTH?” by William Béla Puskas, Jr.

Who was Louis Kossuth or, as known to Hungarians the world over, Kossuth Lajos? The basic facts of his life can be set forth in a relatively straightforward fashion. He was bom in 1802 at Monok in the County of Zemplen in northern Hungary, the son of a well-to-do lawyer. Following in his father’s footsteps, he studied law at the Reformed College of Sárospatak and then clerked in Budapest, taking his examination for the bar in 1823. He then returned to Zemplen to practice law. In 1825, he was appointed to serve as a non-voting representative to the National Diet. He also began to publish reports on the activities of the Diet and disseminated them throughout Hungary, earning the enmity of the Austrian Imperial Government. Having published 344 reports by the end of the Diet’s session, despite the seizure of his lithograph machine by the Imperial police in 1833, Kossuth continued his political commentary with the publication of reports on the activities of the Pest County Assembly, which publication so incensed the government that Kossuth was seized and thrown into prison. It was during his imprisonment that Kossuth studied the English language, relying upon an English grammar book and dictionary, a Bible and the works of Shakespeare. After 22 months, he was finally brought to trial and, in a verdict and punishment orchestrated by Prince Metternich on behalf of the Habsburg court, convicted of violating censorship regulations, conducting underground activities and endangering the welfare of the State. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, and his sentence was added to the time he had already spent in prison. This injustice outraged the Hungarian people, and Kossuth’s friends were able to secure his release in 1840. Shortly

after his release, he married Theresa Meszlenyi, whom he had met while in Buda’s prison.

Kossuth then became editor of a newspaper, the Pesti Hirlap, continuing to air his political views, but left in 1843 after attempts to curtail his editorial powers and censor his opinions. Thereafter, he initiated the forming of a commercial society, a protective association for domestically produced goods, a factory founding society and a savings bank. In 1847, he was elected to the Diet to represent the County of Pest and assumed the leadership of the party in opposition to the Habsburg authority, continuing to advocate democracy and self-government for Hungary. In March, 1848, the Diet elected a new government with Count Louis Batthyány as prime minister and Kossuth as minister of finance. The Austrian army, later aided by the Croatian army, attacked Hungary. On September 19, Kossuth became Governor of Hungary, and the war between Austria and Hungary for Hungary’s independence began on September 29.

On April 14, 1849, the Hungarian Declaration of Independence was approved by the Hungarian National Assembly in Debrecen and Kossuth was named as “Governing President.” Despite many valiant victories during spring and summer, the Hungarians were overcome when Russia entered the fray at the request of Emperor Franz Josef under the terms of the Holy Alliance agreement. On August 12, 1849, Kossuth abdicated, transferring civil authority to military commander General Görgey, whose troops laid down their arms before the advancing Russian army on August 13. Kossuth made his way to Turkey, where he remained in exile until the fall of 1851.