József Eötvös

Hungarian politician (1813–1871)

For the musician, see József Eötvös (musician).

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József Eötvös

Minister of Education of Hungary
In office
7 April 1848 – 11 September 1848
Preceded by| office created
Succeeded by| Lajos Batthyány
Minister of Religion and Education of Hungary
In office
20 February 1867 – 2 February 1871
Preceded by| Mihály Horváth
Succeeded by| József Szlávy
Personal details
Born| (1813-09-03)3 September 1813
Buda, Austrian Empire
Died| 2 February 1871(1871-02-02) (aged 57)
Pest, Austria-Hungary
Political party| Opposition Party, Centralists, Deák Party
Profession| politician, writer

The native form of this personal name is báró vásárosnaményi Eötvös József. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

József baron 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

[edit]

The Baron 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), lord of the bedchamber, vice-chancellor of the Kingdom of Hungary, and his mother was the Baroness Anne von der Lilien (1786–1858).

He received an excellent education and also spent many years in western Europe, assimilating the new ideas both literary and political, and making the acquaintance of the leaders of the Romantic school. On his return to Hungary he wrote his first political work, Prison Reform; and at the diet of 1839–1840 he made a great impression by his eloquence and learning. One of his first speeches (published, with additional matter, in 1841) warmly advocated Jewish emancipation. On 13 September 1842 he married the noble lady Ágnes Rosty de Barkóc (1825–1913), member of the illustrious noble family Rosty de Barkóc that originally hailed from the Vas county, daughter of Albert Rosty de Barkóc (1779–1847), jurist, landowner, vice-ispán of the county of Békés (alispán of Békés).[1] Baron Eötvös' brother in law was Pál Rosty de Barkócz (1830–1874), a Hungarian nobleman, photographer, explorer, who visited Texas, New Mexico, Mexico, Cuba and Venezuela between 1857 and 1859. His other brother-in-law through his wife was Dr. Ágoston Trefort (1817–1888) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Religion and Education, as he married the other Rosty sister, Ilona Rosty de Barkóc (1826–1870).

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 represented the pacific, moderating influence in the council of ministers, but when the premier, Lajos Batthyány, resigned, Eötvös retired for a time to Munich 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).[1]

Portrait of József Eötvös
by Miklós Barabás

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.[1]

Eötvös occupies a prominent place in Hungarian literature. The best of his verses are to be found in his ballads, but he is better known for his novels. When he published The Carthusians, written on the occasion of the floods at Pest in 1838, the Hungarian novel was still in its infancy, being chiefly represented by the historico-epics of Miklós Jósika. Eötvös first modernized it, giving prominence in his pages to current social problems and political aspirations. The famous Village Notary came still nearer to actual life, while Hungary in 1514 is especially interesting because it attributes the great national catastrophe of the Battle of Mohács to the blind selfishness of the Hungarian nobility and the intense sufferings of the people under them. The best edition of Eötvös collected works is that of 1891, in 17 volumes. Comparatively few of his writings have been translated, but there is a good English version (London, 1850) and numerous German versions of The Village Notary, while The Emancipation of the Jews has been translated into Italian and German (Pest, 1841– 1842), and a German translation of Hungary in 1514, under the title of Der Bauernkrieg in Ungarn was published at Pest in 1850.

## Family

[edit]

* Loránd Eötvös
* Actor and playwright Leo Ditrichstein was his grandson. Eotvos's name is sometimes spelled Joseph von Etooes.[2][1]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Chisholm 1911.
2. ^ Google Books, search results ; Joseph von Eotvos, Leo Ditrichstein Retrieved 8 December 2016

Attribution

* This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bain, Robert Nisbet (1911). "Eötvös, József, Baron". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). p. 665.; 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

[edit]

* Works by József Eötvös at Project Gutenberg
* Works by or about József Eötvös at the Internet Archive
* Works by József Eötvös at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)

Political offices

Preceded by

post created

|  Minister of Education
1848  | Succeeded by

Lajos Batthyány

Preceded by

Mihály Horváth

|  Minister of Religion and Education
1867–1871  | Succeeded by

József Szlávy

Cultural offices
Preceded by

Emil Dessewffy

|  President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
1866–1871  | Succeeded by

Menyhért Lónyay

* v
* t
* e

Ministers of Education of Hungary since 1848

Revolution of 1848|

* J. Eötvös
* Batthyány
* Horváth

Kingdom of Hungary|

* J. Eötvös
* Szlávy
* Pauler
* Trefort
* Baross
* Csáky
* L. Eötvös
* Wlassics
* Berzeviczy
* G. Lukács (*1865)
* Tost
* Apponyi
* Székely
* Zichy
* Jankovich
* Apponyi
* Zichy

Transition period|

* Lovászy
* Juhász Nagy
* Kunfi
* G. Lukács (*1885)
* Pogány (opposed by P. Teleki)
* Garbai
* Imre
* Huszár

Regency|

* Haller
* Jó. Vass
* Klebelsberg
* Ernszt
* Karafiáth
* Hóman
* P. Teleki
* Hóman
* Szinyei Merse
* Antal
* Rakovszky

Transition period|

* Rajniss
* Szálasi
* G. Teleki
* Keresztury

Communist Hungary|

* Ortutay
* Darvas
* Erdey-Grúz
* Kónya
* Kállai
* Benke
* Ilku
* Nagy
* Polinszky
* Pozsgay
* Köpeczi
* Czibere
* Glatz

Republic of Hungary|

* Andrásfalvy
* Mádl
* Fodor
* Magyar
* Pokorni
* Pálinkás
* Magyar
* Hiller

Ministers of Culture|

* Révai
* Darvas
* G. Lukács (*1885)
* Orbán
* Pozsgay
* Hámori
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Minister of Religion|

* Já. Vass

Minister of Higher Education|

* Erdey-Grúz

Minister of National/Human Resources|

* Réthelyi
* Balog
* Kásler

* v
* t
* e

Hungarian literature

The list is by chronological order.

Early sources|

* Old Hungarian script
* Establishing charter of the abbey of Tihany
* Urgesta
* Funeral Sermon and Prayer
* Anonymus (notary of Béla III)
* Gesta Hungarorum
* Ákos (chronicler)
* Simon of Kéza
* Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum
* Lamentations of Mary

14th century|

* Minorite Chronicle of Buda
* John of Küküllő
* Mark of Kalt
* Chronicon Pictum

15th century|

* John Vitéz
* Hussite Bible
* Janus Pannonius
* Johannes Thuróczy
* Codex of Bécs
* Codex of Munich
* Zirc Bestiary
* Buda Chronicle
* Chronica Hungarorum
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15th – 16th century|

* Antonio Bonfini
* Gáspár Heltai
* Nicolaus Olahus

16th century|

* Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos
* Tripartitum
* Érdy Codex
* Péter Bornemisza
* Bálint Balassi

16th – 17th century|

* Péter Pázmány

17th century|

* Miklós Zrínyi
* István Gyöngyösi
* Nádasdy Mausoleum

17th – 18th century|

* Kelemen Mikes

18th century|

* József Kármán

18th – 19th century|

* Ferenc Kazinczy
* János Batsányi
* Mihály Fazekas
* Sándor Kisfaludy
* Mihály Csokonai Vitéz
* Dániel Berzsenyi
* Károly Kisfaludy
* Ferenc Kölcsey
* István Széchenyi
* József Katona

19th century|

* Mihály Vörösmarty
* József Bajza
* János Garay
* József Eötvös
* Ede Szigligeti
* Zsigmond Kemény
* János Arany
* Mihály Tompa
* Sándor Petőfi
* Imre Madách
* János Vajda
* Gergely Csiky

19th – 20th century|

* Mór Jókai
* Kálmán Mikszáth
* Elek Benedek
* Zoltán Ambrus
* Sándor Bródy
* Géza Gárdonyi
* Ferenc Herczeg
* Ignotus
* Miklós Bánffy
* Endre Ady
* Miksa Fenyő
* Ferenc Molnár
* Gyula Krúdy
* Dezső Szabó
* Zsigmond Móricz
* Ferenc Móra
* Menyhért Lengyel
* Margit Kaffka
* Lajos Nagy
* Gyula Juhász
* Mihály Babits
* Károly Kós
* Géza Gyóni
* Béla Balázs
* Árpád Tóth
* Géza Csáth
* Dezső Kosztolányi
* Lajos Kassák
* Frigyes Karinthy
* Lajos Áprily
* Milán Füst
* József Nyírő
* Sándor Reményik
* Lajos Zilahy
* Tibor Déry
* Béla Hamvas
* Sándor Szathmári
* Áron Tamási
* János Kodolányi

20th century|

* István Fekete
* Lőrinc Szabó
* Sándor Márai
* László Németh
* Antal Szerb
* Gyula Illyés
* Jolán Földes
* Sándor Török
* Jenő Rejtő
* Attila József
* Albert Wass
* Miklós Szentkuthy
* Mária Szepes
* Géza Képes
* Miklós Radnóti
* István Örkény
* Géza Ottlik
* László Kálnoky
* Sándor Weöres
* Iván Mándy
* Ferenc Karinthy
* János Pilinszky
* Ágnes Nemes Nagy
* László Nagy
* Éva Janikovszky
* Péter Zsoldos
* Ervin Lázár
* Gáspár Nagy

20th – 21st century|

* György Faludy
* Magda Szabó
* András Sütő
* Ferenc Juhász
* Sándor Kányádi
* Imre Kertész
* Gábor Görgey
* Sándor Csoóri
* Anna Jókai
* György Konrád
* György Moldova
* István Csukás
* Tamás Cseh
* Péter Esterházy
* György Károly
* Erno Polgar

Contemporary|

* Ágnes Gergely
* László L. Lőrincz
* Endre Kukorelly
* Péter Nádas
* György Spiró
* Ádám Nádasdy
* Miklós Vámos
* Zsuzsa Rakovszky
* Béla Markó
* Lajos Parti Nagy
* László Krasznahorkai
* Attila Bartis
* György Dragomán

Category:Hungarian writers

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