Kálmán Széll

Kálmán ( Koloman ) Szell ( born June 8, 1843 in Gasztony, Vas County; † 16 August 1915 Rátót, Vas County ) was a politician, banker and 1899-1903 Prime Minister of Hungary.

Life

Szell initially suggested a career as a judge, but later specialized on financial issues. He became a follower of his father, Ferenc Deák. Since the reopening of the Hungarian Reichstag 1865 he was Member of Parliament and of March 2, 1875 to October 4, 1878 Minister of Finance in the Government of Kálmán Tisza. However, due to the occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, he resigned. He was MP for the Liberal Party until 1911 and worked as a banker in Vienna. Szell championed the construction of the railway line Győr- Szombathely -Sopron. In 1896, he headed the Hungarian Delegation to the unsuccessful regular compensation negotiations with Austria.

Prime minister

Following the resignation of Dezso Bánffy Szell was appointed on 26 February 1899 Prime Minister by the King and was the obstruction of opposition to the government stop quickly. He carried out a tax reform and a reform of the financial and banking system. He was the first head of the concrete trying to reduce the influence of the financial institutions of the minorities, especially the Slovakian Tatra Banka. As for the other measure of constraint Magyarization, Szell was far more moderate than its predecessor in their enforcement. It was not until the end of 1902 Szell was able to conclude the negotiations by balancing a trade-off in rate with the Government of Ernest von Koerber. Nevertheless, he had to resign in June 1903 because of continuing problems with the tax return.