Count Kuno von Klebelsberg de Thumburg ( hu, Gróf thumburgi Klebelsberg Kuno Imre Aurél Ferenc; 13 November 1875 – 12 October 1932) was a Hungarian politician who served as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

and

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizatio ...

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 ...

between the two world wars. Klebelsberg was born in Magyarpécska,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

(today

Pecica Pecica (; hu, Pécska; german: Petschka; sr, Печка/''Pečka'') is a town in Arad County, Romania. In ancient times it was a Dacian fortress called Ziridava and today it is an important archeological site.Barbara Ann Kipfer, ''Encyclopedic ...

, Romania). After World War I, the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It forma ...

, and the ravages of the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Klebelsberg assumed the position of Minister of the Interior in 1921, a post which he filled until the following year. Afterwards, he served as Minister of Culture (1922–1931) and introduced many educational reforms throughout Hungary. Klebelsberg helped create elementary schools in the countryside, began the modernisation of numerous universities, and created the foreign Hungarian cultural institute Collegium Hungaricum to raise awareness of

Hungarian culture Hungarian culture is characterised by its distinctive cuisine, folk traditions, poetry, theatre, religious customs, music and traditional embroidered garments. Hungarian folk traditions range from embroidery, decorated pottery and carvings t ...

in other countries. Klebelsberg is also famous for introducing a progressive policy on

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

s for university students. Klebelsberg, however, was controversial with his ideology of Hungarian supremacy, which attributed superior value to Hungarian ethnic culture over the minority ethnic cultures of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (Serb, Slovak, Romanian, Jewish etc.). After the Treaty of Trianon, Klebelsberg's ideology and educational reforms directly served the territorial revisionist and chauvinistic claims of the Hungarian regimes during

Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya ( hu, Vitéz nagybányai Horthy Miklós; ; English: Nicholas Horthy; german: Nikolaus Horthy Ritter von Nagybánya; 18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957), was a Hungarian admiral and dictator who served as the regent ...

's reign as a regent. Klebelsberg was antisemitic, blaming the entire Hungarian Jewry for the bourgeois liberal and communist revolutions, and the governments of 1918 and 1919, respectively, for the loss of territories associated with the Treaty of Trianon. In a dramatic outburst in 1924, he asked the Jews to give back Greater Hungary, promising in exchange to lift the

numerus clausus ''Numerus clausus'' ("closed number" in Latin) is one of many methods used to limit the number of students who may study at a university. In many cases, the goal of the ''numerus clausus'' is simply to limit the number of students to the maximum ...

, the first anti-Jewish act introduced in 20th century Europe.Kovács M. Mária. 2012. Törvénytől sújtva. A numerus clausus Magyarországon, 1920–1945. Budapest: Napvilág

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klebelsberg, Kuno von 1875 births 1932 deaths People from Pecica Hungarian people of German descent Hungarian Interior Ministers Education ministers of Hungary