Count László Teleki IV de Szék (11 February 1811 – 8 May 1861) was a Hungarian writer and statesman. He is remembered as the author of the drama ''Kegyencz'' ("The Favourite", 1841). In older books in English he is given the name "Ladislas Teleky". Teleki was born in Pest to László

Teleki Teleki is the name of an old Hungarian noble family whose members, for centuries, occupied many important positions in the Principality of Transylvania, in the Holy Roman Empire and later in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. History The family was or ...

III and Johanna Mészáros. On his father's death in 1821 he was raised by his elder half-brother

József Teleki Count József Teleki de Szék (24 October 1790 – 15 February 1855) was a Hungarian jurist and historian, who served as the first President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences from 1830 until his death. He was born into an old noble Calvin ...

(1790–1855). Throughout the 1830s he travelled through Europe. On returning to Hungary he became a politician, first in Transylvania (where his brother became governor) and then in the National Assembly, with a particular concern for the equitable representation of different nationalities within the Empire. In 1848 came news of the revolution in Paris, and he travelled to Paris as envoy. The failure of the Hungarian revolution led to his banishment, and in 1851 he was sentenced to death ''in absentia''. During the 1850s he lived in Switzerland and did what he could to assist

Lajos Kossuth Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (, hu, udvardi és kossuthfalvi Kossuth Lajos, sk, Ľudovít Košút, anglicised as Louis Kossuth; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, poli ...

, despite their disagreements. In November 1860 he travelled to

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

under an assumed name in order to see the widow Auguszta Lipthay. He was arrested on 16 December by the Saxon police, and four days later was taken across the border into Austria where he was imprisoned until New Year's Day. After negotiation with the authorities, mediated by

Emperor Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

, he was pardoned and permitted to return to Hungary on the condition that he gave up revolutionary politics and foreign travel. On his return he received a hero's welcome, and immediately resumed his political activities, directing the activities of the

Resolution Party The Resolution Party ( hu, Határozati Párt) was one of the two political groups of the National Assembly of 1861 in Hungary. The group was led by Count László Teleki Count László Teleki IV de Szék (11 February 1811 – 8 May 1861) was ...

(''Határozati''), and insisting that the proposed reforms of 1848 be carried out without compromise. He committed suicide on 8 May, the night before a significant public debate with Ferenc Deák on the constitutional status of the Emperor, for reasons that are unclear. The tragic news, coming only a year after the death of

István Széchenyi Count István Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék ( hu, sárvár-felsővidéki gróf Széchenyi István, ; archaically English: Stephen Széchenyi; 21 September 1791 – 8 April 1860) was a Hungarian politician, political theorist, and wri ...

, demoralized and bewildered the public.Alice Freifeld. ''Nationalism and the crowd in liberal Hungary, 1848-1914.'' Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2000, pp196-7. He was the dedicatee of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor, S.244/2, is the second in a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, and is by far the most famous of the set. In both the original piano solo form and in the orchestrated version this ...

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External links

''Teleki László Alapítvány''
(The László Teleki Institute) {{DEFAULTSORT:Teleki, Laszlo 1811 births 1861 deaths People from Pest, Hungary Laszlo, Teleki Counts of Hungary Hungarian Calvinist and Reformed Christians Opposition Party (Hungary) politicians Resolution Party politicians Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1848–1849) Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1861) Hungarian Freemasons Writers from the Austrian Empire Politicians who died by suicide