Pál Almásy de Zsadány et Törökszentmiklós (1818 – 1 November 1882) was a Hungarian lawyer and politician, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1849.

Career

After studying law he became a lawyer in 1838. He participated in the working of Diet of 1844 as emissary for Heves and Külső-Szolnok County. He served as Viscount ''(vicecomes)'' of the county between 1844 and 1847. He was elected to a member of the House of Representatives in Spring 1848 as representative of

Gyöngyös Gyöngyös (; german: Gengeß) is a town in Heves county in Hungary, east of Budapest. Situated at the foot of the Sár-hegy and Mátra mountains, it is the home of numerous food production plants, including milk production and sausage factori ...

, his birthplace. He was appointed deputy speaker of the first popular representation legislature in April. At the end of the year, during attack of General

Franz Schlik Franz Joseph von Schlik of Bassano and Weisskirchen (Prague, 23 May 1789 – Vienna, 17 March 1862) was a Count and General officer, general in the Austrian Empire. He was one of the most successful Austrian generals during the ...

he functioned as Government Commissioner of Heves and Külső-Szolnok County. After that, when the National Assembly moved to

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and ...

after fall of Buda, he returned to his legislative office. However Speaker Dénes Pázmándy surrendered before Field Marshal Windisch-Grätz in January 1849, therefore Almásy became speaker of the lower house in Debrecen. He announced

Hungarian Declaration of Independence The Hungarian Declaration of Independence declared the independence of Hungary from the Habsburg monarchy during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. It was presented to the National Assembly in closed session on 13 April 1849 by Lajos Kossuth, and ...

on 14 April 1849 which contained dethronement of the

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine (german: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen) originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Austria, later successively Queen of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary, Queen of C ...

. He was also one of the signatories of the document as well as Speaker of the House of Magnates Zsigmond Perényi and House of Representatives Recorder Imre Szacsvay. After defeat of the

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 t ...

he emigrated to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. In 1851 the Pest Military Tribunal sentenced him to death ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in ab ...

''. The sentence was performed symbolically. he had a close relationship with other members of emigration such as

György Klapka György (Móric) Klapka (german: Georg Klapka; 7 April 182017 May 1892) was a Hungarian general. He was one of the most important Hungarian generals of the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848–1849, politician, member of the Hungarian Parlia ...

László Teleki 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 "Ladisla ...

Mihály Horváth Mihály Horváth (20 October 1809, Szentes – 19 August 1878, Karlsbad) was a Hungarian Roman Catholic bishop, historian, and politician. He was an exponent of Hungarian nationalism with an emphasis on its historical culture. Further readi ...

but he had a bad relationship with Lajos Kossuth because he condemned Kossuth's personal leadership style. He returned to home in 1859 but still remained in connection with Klapka. He did not appoint himself during 1861 elections but involved in politics actively besides

Resolution Party The Resolution Party ( hu, Határozati Párt) was one of the two political groups of the National Assembly of 1861 in Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it ...

. He started to organize with Lajos Beniczky and István Nedeczky against Habsburg rule and for restitution of Hungarian independence alongside 1848 laws. It was revealed only in 1918 that one of the participants Lajos Asbóth (father of Union general Sándor Asbóth) was an informer of the Austrian police. Almásy was arrested in 1864 and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in the next year. He released in 1867 after

Austro-Hungarian Compromise The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary ...

when many political prisoners granted an

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

. Then he lived in retirement until his death in 1882.

References

* Jónás, Károly - Villám, Judit: ''A Magyar Országgyűlés elnökei 1848-2002''. Argumentum, Budapest, 2002. pp. 75–79 1818 births 1882 deaths 19th-century Hungarian politicians 19th-century Hungarian lawyers Hungarian nobility Speakers of the House of Representatives of Hungary People from Gyöngyös

Pal Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

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