József Eötvös
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Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
József Eötvös de Vásárosnamény (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 title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
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), vice-chancellor of the
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
, and his mother was the Baroness Anne von der Lilien (1786–1858). On 13 September 1842 he married Ágnes Rosty de Barkóc (1825–1913). Baron Eötvös' brother in law was Pál Rosty de Barkócz (1830–1874), a Hungarian nobleman, photographer, explorer, who visited
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
,
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
, Mexico,
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and
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between 1857 and 1859. Another brother-in-law was the politician Ágoston Trefort. 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 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 (, ; archaically English: Stephen Széchenyi; 21 September 1791 – 8 April 1860) was a Hungarian politician, political theorist, and writer. Widely considered one of the greatest statesme ...
represented the pacific, moderating influence in the council of ministers, but when the premier,
Lajos Batthyány Count Lajos Batthyány de Németújvár (; ; 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 executed by firing squad in Pest, Hungary, Pe ...
, resigned, Eötvös retired for a time to
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
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.


Family

* Loránd Eötvös * Actor and playwright Leo Ditrichstein was his grandson.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 barons Opposition Party (Hungary) politicians Address Party politicians Deák Party politicians Ministers of education of Hungary Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1848–1849) Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1861) Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1865–1869) Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1869–1872) Hungarian writers Writers from the Austrian Empire Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences