Győző Istóczy (7 November 1842, Szentkereszt – 9 January 1915,

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

) was a Hungarian nationalist politician and lawyer in the second half of the 19th century. His

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

views were flagrant during his political career.

Political career

He was born in Szentkereszt (today: ''Táplánszentkereszt'',

Vas County Vas (, ; ; or ; ) is an administrative county (Counties of Hungary, comitatus or ''vármegye'') of Hungary. It was also one of the counties of the former Kingdom of Hungary. It is part of the Centrope Project. Geography Vas County lies in weste ...

) on 7 November 1842. He finished his secondary studies in

Szombathely } Szombathely (; ; also see #Etymology, names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas County in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by the streams ''Perint'' and '' ...

. He graduated from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

and

University of Budapest A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. After graduating Law he became deputy recorder of the county. He was appointed judge of the County Court in 1868. In 1878, during his "Palestine speech" before parliament, Istóczy for Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe to be curbed and for Jewish settlement in

Ottoman Palestine The region of Palestine (region), Palestine is part of the wider region of the Levant, which represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia.Steiner & Killebrew, p9: "The general limits ..., as defined here, begin at the Plain of ' ...

to create an independent

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. He became a member of the

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in 1872 as a member of the Deák Party and represented Rum District until 1892. After the merger of the Deák Party and the Centre Left in 1875, he joined the newly formed Liberal Party. However, he left the group soon and became a non-partisan MP. In 1880 he founded the Alliance of Non-Jews and edited the

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

journal ''Tizenkét röpirat'' ("Twelve pamphlets"). During the Tiszaeszlár blood libel (murder of the girl Eszter Solymosi) in 1882, Géza Ónody, the representative of

Tiszaeszlár Tiszaeszlár (Old form: ''Tisza-Eszlár'') is a village in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Hungary. In 1882 the village was the centre of blood libel accusations against its Jewish community. They were Tiszaeszlár affair, accused of murdering and be ...

in the Hungarian Parliament, and Istóczy proposed the expulsion of the

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

in the House of Representatives, and excited the public against the local Jews, resulting in a number of violent acts and pogroms. Despite the victim Eszter Solymosi having probably been a victim of a sexual aggression (

pedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

), they spread the charge that the Jews killed the girl in order to use her blood at the approaching

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

(April 4). After the trial Istóczy founded the National Antisemitic Party based on the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Christian Social Party. They gained 17 mandates in the 1884 elections. His party split up in 1885 but they still entered the legislature during the 1887 elections. Soon after the National Antisemitic Party finally collapsed. After 1892 he retired from politics. Istóczy became a model for the subsequent far right parties and movements.

References

Magyar Életrajzi lexikon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Istoczy, Gyozo 1842 births 1915 deaths Antisemitism in Hungary 19th-century Hungarian lawyers Hungarian politicians Lawyers from Austria-Hungary Politicians from Austria-Hungary Zionists