Lajos Kossuth Signature His signature L. Kossuth clipped from a letter. Conservation framed with an original, period engraving. Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894), the "Father of Hungarian Democracy," was elected governor of Hungary when Austria refused to accede to demands for far-reaching political, social and economic reforms. As peaceful negotiations quickly escalated into open war, the hastily improvised Hungarian army managed to drive out virtually all Imperial troops from the country. Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph then invoked military assistance from Russia. Soon the Russian army overwhelmed the Hungarian armies and repression followed. Kossuth went into exile in Turkey, leaving it on September 10, 1851 for the United States. However, he first desired to make contact with British politicians and the general public as well as the Hungarian émigré community of London. The indignation his speeches aroused against Russian policy culminated a few years later in the Crimean War. Queen Victoria, who was very uneasy with the adulation given to Kossuth, said that the national movements in Italy and Hungary were nothing but the expression of the "inherent rawness and bad breeding" of the masses. On November 24th, Kossuth, accompanied by his wife and a small retinue, left England for the United States, which he toured from December 1851 to July 1852. He was the first foreign statesman officially invited to the US since the Marquis de Lafayette. Kossuth had learned English while in prison and exile and spoke to half the population of the US, which enthusiastically flocked to hear him. None of the revolutionary movements of 1848 excited so much sympathy in the United States as that of Hungary. Hungary's attempt to establish an independent republic and the charismatic leadership of Kossuth had an almost magical effect upon Americans. In Hungary's fight for freedom, Americans saw a defense of their own principles. Ultimately Kossuth became a victim of the slavery question: extremists in both sections of the United States were prepared to judge the Hungarian cause only in terms of their own domestic struggle. Kossuth wanted to maintain a strict neutrality on this explosive issue. Despite Hungary's epic struggle and Kossuth's brave efforts, the "Bastion of Democracy" turned him away empty-handed. On July 14, 1852, Kossuth left the United States for Great Britain. England was to be his home until 1861, when he moved to Turin, Italy, where he died on March 20, 1894. His remains were repatriated in Budapest in 1905. Autograph: Lajos Kossuth Document Type: Signature Framed Dimensions: 9 1/2" w x 12 1/2" h Price: SOLD Shipping/Handling: SOLD   Home - Historical Figures - Miscellaneous - Lajos Kossuth