József Eötvös
Baron József Eötvös of Vásárosnamény [ øtvøʃ ] (* September 13, 1813 in Buda, † February 2nd 1871 in Pest ) was a Hungarian writer and statesman.
Early years
He was born the son of Baron Ignatius Eötvös and the baroness lilies in Buda. After an excellent education he entered the government service as deputy notary and was introduced early on by his father into the world of politics. He spent many years in Western Europe, where it both in the field of literature and politics took up new ideas and made acquaintance with the leading representatives of Romanticism. On his return to Hungary he wrote his first political work, Prison Reform, and in the National Assembly of 1839/1840 he made a great impression by his eloquence and erudition. In one of his first speeches ( published 1841), he argued for the emancipation of the Jews.
Writer and politician
In the aftermath Eötvös disseminated his progressive ideas in the national liberal newspaper Pesti Hírlap. He took the view that the necessary reforms could be carried out by a responsible and purely national government in a structured on the principle of self-government administration system. For the maintenance of the living in the Carpathian Basin peoples a strong Hungary was needed, which is not, however, allowed to develop into a pure nation-state; it should instead take the " cheap" political and linguistic demands of the nationalities meet and this a higher degree of freedom offer than they could obtain in the neighboring states for self- awareness awakened.
These views can be found in his novel The Village Notary (1844-1846), one of the classics of Hungarian literature, as well as in his less well-known historical novel, The Peasant War in Hungary from 1850 and the comedy Long live the equality!. In 1842 he married Anna Rosty. However, his happy personal life did not prevent him to go public career.
Revolution of 1848
Eotvos was already considered one of the leading writers and politicians of Hungary. His oratory had such an attraction that even the Palatine Hill, the Austrian Archduke Joseph, had to take advantage of them if he wanted the full attention of the magnate panel. In the revolution of 1848 were the liberal ideas of Eotvos to a triumph. Eötvös was Minister of Education in the first Hungarian government under the Liberal Prime Minister, Lajos Batthyány. However, his influence went far beyond his own field beyond. József Eötvös, Ferenc Deák and István Széchenyi embodied the pacifist and moderate side of Ministers.
In protest against the politically radical Lajos Kossuth, however, Eötvos withdrew in autumn 1848 to Munich. Although there deprived of the storms of the Revolutionary War, he served his country still further with pin and spring. His work influence of the prevailing ideas of the 19th century to the State ( 1851-1854, German -language editions in Vienna and Leipzig), lasting influence on literature and public opinion in Hungary.
After 1848
After his return in 1851 Eötvös held by all political movements remotely. In 1859 he published The guarantees of power and unity of Austria ( German Edition Leipzig the same year). In the National Assembly of 1861 was one of the most loyal followers Eötvös Franz Deak. The forced peace that prevailed during the next few years, enabled him to again turn to the literature, and in 1866 he was appointed President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Gyula Andrássy Minister under
In the national assemblies of 1865 and 1867 he fought again with full zeal on the side Deak, with whose policies he now fully identified. In the formation of the government to Gyula Andrássy in February 1867, he again took up the post of Minister of Culture. He was thus the only minister in 1848, who could return to his office. Eötvös finally now had the opportunity to put some of his lifelong ideals. That same year, the National Assembly passed its bill on the emancipation of the Jews; further efforts in the direction of religious freedom, however, were less successful, mainly due to the resistance of the Catholics.
His greatest achievement, however, was the adoption of the National Education Act. This law provided the most comprehensive education system in Hungary since the days of Maria Theresa. As a good Catholic ( in religious matters he was a student of Montalembert ) prepared Eotvos the dogma of papal infallibility some displeasure. He defended stubbornly reconciliation with Austria and sat during the absence Andrássy before the Council of Ministers. The efforts of recent years, however, were too much for his declining health, and he died in Pest on February 2, 1871. On May 3, 1879 him a still image on the Eötvös Square was erected in honor of Pest.
Importance
Eotvos plays an equally large role in the Hungarian literature as the Hungarian policy. Its special feature, both as a writer and as a politician and statesman, is that Eötvös was a true philosopher, a philosopher at heart and in theory. In his poems and novels he brought, dressed in an artistic form, all his great ideas to express, for which he fought in the social and political life. His best verses found in his ballads, and yet his poetry is insignificant in comparison with his novels.
Was named after Eötvös founded in Buda in 1895 after the model of École Normale Supérieure Baron- Jósef Eötvös Kollégium, a teacher training school with boarding facilities, which has long been regarded as the leading elite school in Hungary and today ( turn by his son Loránd Eötvös is named ) Eötvös Loránd University incorporated.