Kossuth, Lajos

Kossuth, Lajos

Lajos Kossuth, lithograph, 1856.

(credit: Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.)

(born Sept. 19, 1802, Monok, Hung.—died March 20, 1894, Turin, Italy) Hungarian patriot. A lawyer from a noble family, he was sent to the national Diet (1832), where he developed his radical political and social philosophy. Imprisoned on political charges (1837–40), he later wrote for a reform journal and gained a devoted following. Reelected to the Diet (1847–49), he led the “national opposition,” and after the February Revolution (1848) he persuaded the delegates to vote for independence from Austria. Appointed provisional governor, he became virtual dictator of Hungary. In 1849 Russian armies intervened on behalf of Austria, forcing Kossuth to resign. He fled to Turkey, where he was interned for two years. After his release he lectured in the U.S. and England, and later, from his home in Turin, he watched Hungary reconcile itself with the Austrian monarchy. After the Compromise of 1867, he retired from political life.