József Eötvös

Baron József Eötvös de Vásárosnamény (pronounced ['joːʒɛf 'øtvøʃ dɛ 'vaːʃaːroʃnɒmeːɲ]; 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

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

On 13 September 1842 he married Ágnes Rosty de Barkóc (1825–1913). 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. Another brother-in-law was the politician Ágoston Trefort.

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).