Johann Mailáth

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Johann Graf Mailáth von Székhely , self-designation Johann Graf Mailáth (also János Graf Mailáth von Székhely ; * October 3, 1786 in Pest , † January 3, 1855 in Lake Starnberg near Ammerland ) was a Hungarian historian and writer .

Life

Mailáth was the son of the statesman Joseph Count Mailáth von Székhely (1737-1810). He received private lessons before in Eger Philosophy studied and then at the Royal Academy Raab the law . He became a clerk in 1808 , then in 1812 secretary in the Hungarian court chancellery in Vienna . Seriously ill with an eye disease, he had to quit civil service. After his recovery he devoted himself entirely to his journalistic activities. Mailáth's mother tongue was German and he also wrote his works in German. He didn't learn Hungarian until the age of 14. With his works he was seen as a mediator of Hungarian history, culture and literature in German-speaking countries. Well-educated and famous for his extremely good memory, his works are nonetheless characterized by a certain dilettantimus.

In the 1830s he was a reporter at the Viennese court. Metternich , the leading minister in the Austrian Empire, considered his work to be helpful, as he presented things in his works "as the government wishes". Even in the revolutionary years of 1848/1849 he received regular financial donations from the court. Politically, he was close to the conservative forces. He characterized the leaders of the Hungarian revolution of 1848/1849 very negatively, and condemned the revolution as a rebellion against the legal rulers.

From 1839 to 1848 he was the editor of the pocket book Iris and in 1844 of the newspaper Nemzeti Ujság in Pest. Mailáth moved to Munich in the early 1850s because of his weak financial situation . There he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1852 .

Lessons for the future Empress Elisabeth of Austria

In autumn 1853, Duke Maximilian engaged Mailáth in Bavaria to teach his daughter Elisabeth , who had recently been betrothed to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. Mailáth came to the Herzog-Max-Palais three times a week to give historical lectures. Duchess Ludovika in Bavaria , who also attended the lectures with parts of her court, was impressed by Mailáth's incredible memory, who held his lessons "without the aid of a book".

Suicide in Lake Starnberg

Even so, his financial situation did not improve. On January 3, 1855, he and his unmarried daughter Henriette therefore committed suicide in Lake Starnberg . On January 4, 1855, the bodies of the two were found in the shallow water near Ammerland . Father and daughter had tied themselves tightly together with a large cloth and had filled their pockets with stones. In the house, court and state archives in Vienna there is a confessional report that establishes a connection between the double suicide and - allegedly - Mailáth's failure to pay for teaching the future Austrian empress.

Works (selection)

  • Magyar poems , Cotta, Stuttgart 1825.
  • Magyar sagas and fairy tales , Traßler, Brno 1825.
  • History of the Magyars , 5 volumes, Tendler, Vienna 1828–1831.
  • History of the City of Vienna from its founding to 1830 , Tendler, Vienna 1832.
  • The religious confusion in Hungary , 2 volumes, Manz, Regensburg 1845.
  • History of the Austrian Imperial State , 5 volumes, Perthes, Hamburg 1834–1850.
  • Compact history of the Austrian imperial state down to the most recent times , Meyer, Vienna 1851.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Beatrix Meyer: Empress Elisabeth and her Hungarians. Munich: Allitera Verlag 2019, p. 18.
  2. ↑ Beatrix Meyer: Empress Elisabeth and her Hungarians. Munich: Allitera Verlag 2019, p. 19.
  3. ↑ Beatrix Meyer: Empress Elisabeth and her Hungarians. Munich: Allitera Verlag 2019, p. 20.
  4. ^ Christian Sepp: Ludovika. Sisi's mother and her century. Munich 2019, pp. 247/248.
  5. ^ Christian Sepp: Ludovika. Sisi's mother and her century. Munich 2019, pp. 268/269.
personal data
SURNAME Mailáth, Johann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mailáth von Székhely, Johann Graf (full name); Mailáth, Johann Graf; Mailáth von Székhely, Count János
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian historian and writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 3, 1786
PLACE OF BIRTH pest
DATE OF DEATH January 3, 1855
Place of death Starnberger See near Ammerland