Lajos Kossuth

Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (Hungarian: [ˈlɒjoʃ ˈkoʃut]; Hungarian: udvardi és kossuthfalvi Kossuth Lajos; Slovak: Ľudovít Košút; English: Louis Kossuth; 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 ...".

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, Zsuzsanna.

The family moved from Monok to Olaszliszka in 1803, and then to Sátoraljaújhely in 1808. Lajos had four younger sisters.

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.

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).