Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Bertalan Széchényi de Sárvár-Felsővidék (24 October 1866 – 3 June 1943) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Speaker of the House of Magnates from 1 May 1935 until his death.

Biography

He was born into a prominent noble family in

Sopron Sopron (; , ) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century In the Iron Age a hilltop settlement with a burial ground existed in the neighbourhood of Sopron-Várhely. When ...

on 24 October 1866. His parents were Count Sándor Széchényi, grandson of Count Ferenc Széchényi, Lord Lieutenant (Count; ''comes'') of

Tolna County Tolna (, ; ) is an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus or vármegye) in present-day Hungary as it was in the former Kingdom of Hungary. It lies in central Hungary, on the west bank of the river Danube. It shares borde ...

, Deputy Speaker of the House of Magnates since 1905, and Natália Dőry de Jobaháza. He had four siblings, including Lajos Széchényi, an Austro-Hungarian diplomat and ambassador. His uncle was Imre Széchényi, who served as Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Germany from 1878 to 1892. He married Countess Natália Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka on 11 December 1907. Their only child, Márton was born in 1909. Bertalan Széchényi graduated law at the University of Budapest. He served in the 7th Hussar Regiment as a reserve officer. He retired as a lieutenant. After that he traveled around the world, including

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, and some parts of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. After returning to home he directed his properties. He was appointed heritage member of the House of Magnates on 1 June 1894 by

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Francis Joseph. He served as recorder of the upper house from 1896 to 1912. He became Imperial and Royal Chamberlain in 1910. He served as Second Deputy Speaker of the House of Magnates between 1912 and 1917. He was a member of the Committee of Economy until 1918. The House of Magnates was dissolved after the Aster Revolution, on 16 November 1918, so he lost his parliamentary seat. The Upper House of the Parliament was reorganized in 1927 and Count Széchényi became its member. He was a board member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences since 9 May 1933. He was appointed Speaker of the Upper House in 1935, following Baron Gyula Wlassics in that position. He died in office in 1943. He was succeeded by Baron Zsigmond Perényi.

References

* Jónás, Károly – Villám, Judit: ''A Magyar Országgyűlés elnökei 1848–2002''. Argumentum, Budapest, 2002. pp. 305–307

External links

* 1866 births 1943 deaths Speakers of the House of Magnates Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Bertalan People from Austria-Hungary {{Hungary-politician-stub