József Eötvös
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

József baron Eötvös de
Vásárosnamény Vásárosnamény is a small town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. It also includes Vitka since 1969, and in 1939 Gergelyi and Ugornya formed by uniting Gergelyiugornya. Postal history Pri ...
(pronunciation: jɔ:ʒef 'øtvøʃ dɛ 'va:ʃa:rɔʃnɒme:ɲ 3 September 1813 – 2 February 1871) was a Hungarian writer and statesman, the son of Ignác baron Eötvös de Vásárosnamény and Anna von Lilien, who stemmed from an Erbsälzer family of Werl in Germany. Eötvös name is sometimes anglicised as Joseph von Eotvos.


Biography

The
Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
József Eötvös de Vásárosnamény was born in the Hungarian aristocratic family Eötvös de Vásárosnamény. His father was the Baron Ignác Eötvös de Vásárosnamény (1786–1851), lord of the bedchamber, vice-chancellor of the
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
, and his mother was the Baroness Anne von der Lilien (1786–1858). He received an excellent education and also spent many years in western Europe, assimilating the new ideas both literary and political, and making the acquaintance of the leaders of the Romantic school. On his return to Hungary he wrote his first political work, ''Prison Reform''; and at the
diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
of 1839–1840 he made a great impression by his eloquence and learning. One of his first speeches (published, with additional matter, in 1841) warmly advocated Jewish emancipation. On 13 September 1842 he married the noble lady Ágnes Rosty de Barkóc (1825–1913), member of the illustrious noble family Rosty de Barkóc that originally hailed from the Vas county, daughter of Albert Rosty de Barkóc (1779–1847), jurist, landowner, vice-ispán of the county of Békés (''alispán of Békés''). Baron Eötvös' brother in law was
Pál Rosty de Barkóc Pál Rosty de Barkócz (pronunciation: pa:l 'rɔʃti 'bɒrkɔ:ʦ 29 November 1830 – 7 December 1874) was a Hungarian nobleman, photographer, explorer. Life Born in Pest in the former Kingdom of Hungary. Pál István Ferenc, was a member ...
(1830–1874), a Hungarian nobleman, photographer,
explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
, who visited
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
,
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
, Mexico,
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
and
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
between 1857 and 1859. His other brother in law through his wife was dr.
Ágoston Trefort Dr. Ágoston Trefort (pronunciation: a:gɔʃtɔn 'trɛfɔrt 7 February 1817 – 22 August 1888) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Religion and Education from 1872 until his death. He was the President of the Hungarian Acad ...
(1817–1888) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Religion and Education, as he married the other Rosty sister, Ilona Rosty de Barkóc (1826–1870). Eötvös disseminated his progressive ideas in the columns of the ''Pesti Hírlap'', as well as in his novels ''The Village Notary'' (1844–1846) – one of the classics of Hungarian literature – ''Hungary in 1514'', and the comedy ''Long live Equality!''. The February
Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although th ...
was the complete triumph of Eötvös's ideas, and he held the portfolio of public worship and instruction in the first Hungarian ministry. Eötvös, Ferenc Deák and
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 ...
represented the pacific, moderating influence in the council of ministers, but when the premier,
Lajos Batthyány Count Lajos Batthyány de Németújvár (; hu, gróf németújvári Batthyány Lajos; 10 February 1807 – 6 October 1849) was the first Prime Minister of Hungary. He was born in Pozsony (modern-day Bratislava) on 10 February 1807, and was e ...
, resigned, Eötvös retired for a time to
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
during the War of Independence. Yet he continued to serve the cause in his influential writings, for example ''Influence of the Ruling Ideas of the 19th century on the State'' (Pest, 1851–1854, German editions at Vienna and Leipzig the same year). On his return home, in 1851, he abstained from all political movements. In 1859 he published ''The Guarantees of the Power and Unity of Austria'' (the German edition was published in Leipzig the same year), in which he tried to arrive at a compromise between personal union and ministerial responsibility on the one hand and centralization on the other. After the Italian war, however, such a position was regarded as inadequate by the majority of the nation. In the diets of 1861, 1865, and 1867 Eötvös was one of the most loyal followers of Deák, with whose policy he now completely associated himself. On the formation of the Andrássy cabinet in February 1867 he once more accepted the portfolio of public worship and education, being the only one of the ministers of 1848 who thus returned to office. He had now, at last, the opportunity of realizing the ideals of a lifetime. That very year the diet passed his bill for the emancipation of the Jews; though his further efforts in the direction of religious liberty were less successful, owing to the opposition of the Catholics. Perhaps his greatest achievement was the National Schools Act, the most complete system of education provided for Hungary since the days of Maria Theresa. In 1866, he was elected president of the Hungarian academy. He died at Pest on 2 February 1871. On 3 May 1879 a statue was erected to him at Pest in the square which bears his name. Eötvös occupies a prominent place in Hungarian literature. The best of his verses are to be found in his
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
s, but he is better known for his novels. When he published ''The Carthusians'', written on the occasion of the floods at Pest in 1838, the Hungarian novel was still in its infancy, being chiefly represented by the historico-epics of Jsikh. Eötvös first modernized it, giving prominence in his pages to current social problems and political aspirations. The famous ''Village Notary'' came still nearer to actual life, while ''Hungary in 1514'' is especially interesting because it attributes the great national catastrophe of the
Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and thos ...
to the blind selfishness of the Hungarian nobility and the intense sufferings of the people under them. The best edition of Eötvös collected works is that of 1891, in 17 volumes. Comparatively few of his writings have been translated, but there is a good English version (London, 1850) and numerous German versions of ''The Village Notary'', while ''The Emancipation of the Jews'' has been translated into Italian and German (Pest, 1841– 1842), and a German translation of ''Hungary in 1514'', under the title of ''Der Bauernkrieg in Ungarn'' was published at Pest in 1850.


Family

*
Loránd Eötvös Baron Loránd Eötvös de Vásárosnamény (or Loránd Eötvös, , '' hu, vásárosnaményi báró Eötvös Loránd Ágoston''; 27 July 1848 – 8 April 1919), also called Baron Roland von Eötvös in English literature, was a Hungarian physicist ...
* Actor and playwright
Leo Ditrichstein Leo Ditrichstein (January 6, 1865 – June 28, 1928) was an Austrian-American actor and playwright. Biography He was born on January 6, 1865, in Temesvár, Austria-Hungary. He was educated in Vienna and was naturalized as an American citiz ...
was a grandson. Eotvos's name is sometimes spelled Joseph von Etooes.Google Books, search results ; Joseph von Eotvos, Leo Ditrichstein
Retrieved 8 December 2016


References

;Attribution * ; Endnotes: ** A. Ban, ''Life and Art of Baron Joseph Eotvos'' (Hung.) (Budapest, 1902); ** Zoltan Ferenczi ''Baron Joseph Eotvos (Hung.) (Budapest, 1903), the best biography ** M. Berkovics, ''Baron Joseph Eotvos and the French Literature'' (Hung.) (Budapest, 1904)


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eotvoes, Jozsef 1813 births 1871 deaths People from Buda Hungarian writers Hungarian nobility Education ministers of Hungary Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences