Count Lajos Batthyány de Németújvár (; ; 10 February 1807 – 6 October 1849) was the first
Prime Minister of Hungary
The prime minister of Hungary () is the head of government of Hungary. The prime minister and the government of Hungary, Cabinet are collectively accountability, accountable for their policies and actions to the National Assembly (Hungary), Par ...
. He was born in Pozsony (modern-day
Bratislava
Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
) on 10 February 1807, and was executed by firing squad in
Pest on 6 October 1849, the same day as
the 13 Martyrs of Arad.
Career
His father was Count József Sándor
Batthyány von Német-Újvár (1777–1812), his mother Borbála
Skerlecz de Lomnicza (1779–1834). He had an elder sister, Countess Amalia (who married, and divorced, Count
Franz Oliver von Jenison-Walworth, and later then Count von
Westerholt-Gysenberg. At an early age, he moved to
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
with his mother and his brother after his parents' divorce. Batthyány had a private tutor, but his mother sent him to a boarding school and Batthyány rarely saw his mother again.
Early years
At the age of 16 Batthyány finished his studies at boarding school and attended the academy in Zagreb (now
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...
, Croatia). In 1826 he took a
tour of duty
For military personnel, a tour of duty is usually a period of time spent in combat or in a hostile environment. In an army, for instance, soldiers on active duty serve 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the length of their service commitment. ...
in Italy for four years, where he was promoted to lieutenant and got his
law degree
A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law.
Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...
.
In 1830 he became a
hereditary peer
The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...
in the
Upper House
An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...
in Hungary and took his seat in the Parliament, but at this time Battyhány was not a politician by nature.
In December 1834 he married
Countess Antónia Zichy de Zich et Vásonkeő (daughter of Count Károly
Zichy de Zich et Vásonkeő and Countess Antónia
Batthyány von Német-Újvár). Their children were:
Countess Amália Batthyány von Német-Újvár (1837–1922),
Ilona Keglevich von Buzin (1842–1929) and
Count Elemér Batthyány (1847–1932). Batthyány's friend said that Antónia (his wife) encouraged him to take on larger responsibilities in politics.
Batthyány, the Reform politician
Batthyány became more involved after the 1839–1840
diet in Pozsony and was the
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
. He drew up a reform plan for them. Batthyány advised employing
stenographers to record verbatim the proceedings of the Upper House starting in 1840.
Batthyány agreed with
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 ...
's views on economics and politics. At the beginning of the 1830s Batthyány was one of the people who promoted the
breeding of race horses in Hungary. Later they expanded into other animal breeding and established the
Association of Hungarian Economy. Batthyány, following Széchenyi, supported breeding
silkworm
''Bombyx mori'', commonly known as the domestic silk moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of '' Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. Silkworms are the larvae of silk moths. The silkworm is of ...
s: he planted more than 50,000
mulberry
''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...
trees on his farm to cultivate them. The
Vas shire county and the Economics Association of Szombathely were founded with Batthyány's help.
At the start he agreed with Széchenyi that the new noblemen and aristocrats had to lead the new reform movement, but Batthyány's views were much closer to that of the nobility. Because of this Batthyány tried to bite his tongue when dealing with Széchenyi and
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (; ; ; ; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman and governor-president of the Kingdom of Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, r ...
. From 1843 onward he started to work with Kossuth.
In the 1843–1844 parliament Batthyány was the Leader of the Opposition for the entire parliament, and criticised the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
's internal affairs and foreign policy.
After the
dissolution of parliament
The dissolution of a legislative assembly (or parliament) is the simultaneous termination of service of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy ...
Batthyány moved to Pest and in 1845 he was elected as the chairman of the Central Election Office. He had an important role in the other economic associations and set up the (roughly: "Defence society" ). On 15 March 1847 an amalgamation of the Hungarian Leftist movements (the Maverick Party) was founded and Batthyány became its first President.
Batthyány supported Kossuth both morally and financially. Kossuth became the representative for
in the 1847 diet. After this Batthyány was the Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House while Kossuth had the same role in the
Lower House
A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...
.
The Batthyány Government

Batthyány was part of the delegation to the Emperor
Ferdinand I of Austria
Ferdinand I ( 19 April 1793 – 29 June 1875) was Emperor of Austria from March 1835 until his abdication in December 1848. He was also King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Croatia and King of Bohemia, Bohemia (as Ferdinand V), King of Lombardy– ...
. They insisted Hungary's government be supreme in its territory. On 17 March 1848 the Emperor assented and Batthyány created the first
Diet of Hungary. On 23 March 1848, as
head of government
In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...
, Batthyány commended his administration to the Diet.
The first task of the new government was to work out the revolution's policies. After these were agreed, the government began to take action on 11 April 1848. At that time the internal affairs and foreign policy of Hungary were unstable, and Batthyány faced many problems. His first and most important act was to organise the armed forces and the
local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
. He insisted that the Austrian army, when in Hungary, would come under Hungarian law, and this was conceded by the Austrian Empire. He tried to repatriate conscripted soldiers to Hungary. He established the
Organisation of Militiamen, whose job was to ensure internal security. In May 1848 he started to organise the independent
Hungarian Revolutionary Army and recruited men into it. Batthyány took control of the Organisation of Militiamen until
Lázár Mészáros returned. At the same time, he was
Minister of War
A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...
.
Batthyány was a very capable leader, but he was in the middle of a clash between the Austrian monarchy and the Hungarian separatists. He was devoted to the
constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...
and aimed to uphold the constitution, but the Emperor was dissatisfied with his work. On 29 August, with the assent of parliament, Batthyány and
Ferenc Deák went to the Emperor to ask him to order the Serbs to capitulate and to stop Jelačić, who was planning to attack Hungary. At the same time, Batthyány made Jelačić the offer that Croatia – as part of the
lands of the Hungarian Crown
The Lands of the Hungarian CrownLaszlo PéterHungary's Long Nineteenth Century: Constitutional and Democratic Traditions in a European Perspective BRILL, 2012, pp. 51–56 () was the titular expression of Hungarian pretensions to the various terri ...
-, could separate from it peacefully. Batthyány's efforts were unsuccessful: even though the Emperor formally relieved Jelačić of his duties, in practice Jelačić and his army invaded Hungary on 11 September 1848.
So Batthyány and his government resigned, except for Kossuth, Szemere, and Mészáros. Later, at the request of
Archduke Stephen, Palatine of Hungary
Archduke Stephen Francis Victor (; ; 14 September 1817 – 19 February 1867) was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and the last Palatine of Hungary, serving from 1847 to 1848.
Biography
He was the son of Archduke Joseph, Palatin ...
, Batthyány became Prime Minister again. On 13 September Batthyány announced a rebellion and requested that the Palatine lead it. However the Palatine, under orders from the Emperor, resigned his position and left Hungary.
The Emperor did not recognise the new government on 25 September. He also invalidated Batthyány's leadership and nominated
Count Franz Philipp von Lamberg as the leader of the Hungarian army. But Lamberg was assassinated by the rebels in Pest on 28 September. Meanwhile, Batthyány travelled to Vienna again to seek a compromise with the Emperor.
Batthyány was successful in his hurried efforts to organize the
Hungarian Revolutionary Army: the new army defeated the Croatians on 29 September at the
Battle of Pákozd
The Battle of Pákozd (or Battle of Sukoró) was a battle in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, Hungarian war of Independence of 1848–1849, fought on the 29 September 1848 in the Pákozd – Sukoró – Pátka triangle. It was the first ...
.
Batthyány realised that he could not compromise with the Emperor, so on 2 October he resigned again and nominated
Miklós Vay as his successor. At the same time, Batthyány resigned his seat in parliament.
Resignation
As an ordinary soldier, Batthyány joined
József Vidos' army, and fought against general
Kuzman Todorović, but on 11 October 1848 he fell off his horse and broke his arm.
After Batthyány recovered he was again elected as a politician. Batthyány didn't want the Parliament to move to
Debrecen
Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...
. Because of his proposal the Parliament sent a delegation (including Batthyány himself) to General
Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz to meet with him as the Parliament wanted to know Windisch-Grätz's purpose. But the general didn't want to meet with Batthyány, only with the other members of the delegation.
On 8 January 1849 Batthyány went back to Pest, where he was captured at the
Károly Palace and imprisoned in the Budai barracks. When the Hungarian army was nearer Pest, Batthyány was taken away to Pozsony,
Ljubljana
{{Infobox settlement
, name = Ljubljana
, official_name =
, settlement_type = Capital city
, image_skyline = {{multiple image
, border = infobox
, perrow = 1/2/2/1
, total_widt ...
and Olmütz (now
Olomouc
Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region.
Located on the Morava (rive ...
, Czech Republic). The Hungarians tried to rescue him many times, but Batthyány asked them not to. Batthyány insisted that his actions were legitimate and that the court had no jurisdiction.
Execution

On 16 August 1849 in Olmütz the Military Court sent Batthyány to his fate. At first they wanted to confiscate his possessions and give him a prison sentence, but under pressure from
Prince Felix von Schwarzenberg and the Austrian Empire they instead sentenced Batthyány to death.
The Hungarians carried Batthyány to Pest, because they hoped that general
Julius Jacob von Haynau (in the name of the Emperor) would give him mercy, but Haynau sentenced him to
hang. In her last visit, Batthyány's wife smuggled a small sword into the prison. Batthyány tried to commit suicide by cutting his
jugular veins, but he failed in the attempt. Because of the scars on his neck, the court changed the sentence to
execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French , rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are usually rea ...
.
On the evening of 6 October Batthyány was drugged and because of this he walked to the
New Building. He had lost much blood because of his suicide attempt so that two people had to escort him. He was relieved to see that there were no
gallows
A gallows (or less precisely scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sa ...
.
Baron Johann Franz Kempen von Fichtenstamm, the commander of the military district in Pest and Buda knew that it was impossible to execute Batthyány by firing squad in his drugged state, but he sought no delay, so decided to shoot him in the head. Batthyány knelt in front of the firing squad and shouted: ("Long live my country! Come on, huntsmen!").
Batthyány's funeral was in the city centre, in the vault of the Greyfriars Church. After the
Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (, ) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, which was a military and diplomatic alliance of two sovereign states. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereign ...
, in 1870 his remains were moved to the newly built
mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...
in the
Kerepesi Cemetery.
Works
Batthyány's parliamentary speeches are preserved in contemporary diaries and political newspapers. His essay on cultivating
sugar beet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...
was printed in the periodical in 1842.
Monuments
* Batthyány's Mausoleum in the
Kerepesi Cemetery (Budapest, Hungary), built by
Albert Schickedanz at the request of the town of
Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...
* Batthyány's portrait by
Miklós Barabás
Miklós Barabás (10 February 1810, in Márkosfalva, Háromszék County, Hungary – 12 February 1898, in Budapest, Hungary) was a Hungarian painter. He is mostly known for his portrait paintings, including a famous portrait of a young F ...
* Batthyány Örökmécses (roughly, "monument") in Budapest
*
Batthyány Square and Batthyány Street in Budapest. In 2008 a statue of Batthyány was erected on Batthyány Square.
* The Batthyány Lajos Trust (founded in 1991)
* The Batthyány Association's medallion
[
] issued in 1994, designed by
László Szlávics, Jr.
Ancestors
Gallery
File:Batthyány mauzóleum.jpg, Batthyány's mausoleum in Kerepesi Cemetery, Budapest, Hungary
File:Batthyány mausoleum, Budapest.jpg, Batthyány's mausoleum after renovation
File:Batthyany orokmecses P7290044.jpg, Batthyány's sanctuary lamp (monument)
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
*
Batthyany Family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batthyany, Lajos
1807 births
1849 deaths
Politicians from Bratislava
Lajos, Batthyany
Counts of Hungary
Hungarians in Slovakia
Opposition Party (Hungary) politicians
Prime ministers of Hungary
Ministers of defence of Hungary
Finance ministers of Hungary
Ministers of education of Hungary
Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1848–1849)
Lord-lieutenants of a county in Hungarian Kingdom
Hungarian revolutionaries
Revolutionaries from the Austrian Empire
Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni
People of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Heads of government who were later imprisoned
Executed prime ministers
People executed by Hungary by firing squad
Executed Hungarian people
People executed by the Austrian Empire