author
Lajos Kossuth
1802–1894
A fiery voice of Hungarian independence, he became one of 19th-century Europe’s best-known champions of liberty. His speeches, journalism, and political leadership turned him into a symbol of national self-determination far beyond Hungary.
1 Audiobook
Select Speeches of Kossuth
by Lajos Kossuth
About the author
Born on September 19, 1802, in Monok, Lajos Kossuth trained as a lawyer before rising to prominence as a journalist and reform politician in the Kingdom of Hungary. He became widely known for reporting on the Hungarian Diet and for arguing that Hungary needed greater political freedom, civic reform, and a stronger national voice within the Habsburg Empire.
During the revolutions of 1848, he emerged as the leading figure of Hungary’s struggle for self-government. He served as finance minister and later as governor-president during the war for independence in 1848–1849. After the revolution was crushed with Austrian and Russian force, he went into exile, but his reputation only grew as he traveled in Europe and the United States, where many admired him as a spokesman for constitutional liberty and national independence.
Kossuth spent much of the rest of his life in exile, dying in Turin on March 20, 1894. Even after his political defeat, he remained a powerful national hero in Hungarian memory, remembered for his eloquence, determination, and lasting role in the story of modern Hungary.