DESSEWFFY, AUREL, COUNT (18o8 - 1842)

This article appears in Volume V08, Page 104 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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DESSEWFFY, AUREL, COUNT (18o8 - 1842) , Hungarian journalist and politician, eldest son of Count Jbzsef Dessewffy and Eleonora Sztaray, was born at Nagy-Mihaly, county Zemplen, Hungary. Carefully educated at his father's

house

, he was accustomed to the best society of his day. While still a child he could declaim most of the Iliad in Greek without a book, and read and quoted Tacitus with enthusiasm. Under the noble influence of Ferencz Kazinczy he became acquainted with the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

masterpieces of European literature in their

original

ORIGINAL

tongues. He was particularly fond of the English, and one of his early idols was

Jeremy

JEREMY, EPISTLE OF

Bentham. He regularly accompanied his father to the diets of which he was a member, followed the course of the debates, of which he kept a journal, and made the acquaintance of the great Szechenyi, who encouraged his aspirations. On leaving college, he entered the royal aulic chancellery, and in 1832 was appointed secretary of the royal stadtholder at Buda. The same year he turned his attention to politics and was regarded as one of the most promising young orators of the day, especially during the sessions of the diet of 1832-1836, when he had the courage to oppose Kossuth. At the Pressburg diet in 184o Dessewffy was already the leading orator of the more enlightened and progressive Conservatives, but incurred great unpopularity for not going far enough, with the result that he was twice defeated at the polls. But his reputation in court circles was increasing; he was appointed a member of the committee for the reform of the criminal law in 1840; and, the same year with a

letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

of recommendation from Metternich in his pocket, visited England and France, Holland and Belgium, made the acquaintance of

Thiers

THIERS

and Heine in Paris, and returned home with an immense and precious

store

STORE (from O. Fr. estor or estoire,
Late
- LATE
Lat. staurum or instaurum, stock, provisions,
supply
- SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)
, from the
late
- LATE
use of instaurare, to provide, properly to construct, renew, restore)

of practical information. He at once proceeded to put fresh life into the despondent and irresolute Conservative party, and the Magyar aristocracy, by gallantly combating in the Vildg the opinions of Kossuth's

paper

PAPER
PAPER (Fr. papier, from Lat. papyrus)

, the Pesti Hirlap. But the multiplicity of his labours was too much for his feeble physique, and he died on the 9th of February 1842, at the very time when his talents seemed most indispensable.
See Aus den Papieren des Grafen Aurel Dessewffy (Pest, 1843) ; Memorial Wreath to Count Aurel Dessewffy (Hung.), (Budapest, 1857) ; Collected Works of Count Dessewffy, with a Biography (Hung.), (Budapest, 1887). (R. N. B.)

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