András L. Áchim

András L. Áchim (born March 16, 1871 in Békéscsaba ; † May 14, 1911 ibid) was a Hungarian politician.

Origin and education

András L. Áchim was sent to Andrássy-Gyula-Gymnasium by his father, who owned a small estate , to become a "master". But all his efforts failed. Andreas, a lively youth, said: "Father, you beat me in vain, I will never become a master." He did not feel comfortable in the atmosphere of the school. His father was forced to take him out of the sixth grade and place him in the practical school of life on his estate.

Career

After getting married at the age of 23, he lived on his estate for ten years. He read a lot, including socialist works. It was the injustices of the ruling class towards the poor that made him an Agrarian Socialist, as he called himself. He helped to found a people's association and was elected its president.

In January 1905 he was put up as a candidate against State Secretary Zsilinszky in Békéscsaba. In the second ballot, with the help of a small party, he won the fight, which was waged by all means. The unheard-of happened: the agrarian socialist Áchim was elected as a member of parliament and not the established bourgeois Zsilinszky.

Áchim caused a sensation in the Hungarian parliament of feudal lords. At 34, he was a well-built, handsome man. His speeches were startling and biting. The parliament was dissolved at the end of the same year.

On May 7, 1906, Áchim was again elected a member of parliament against the bourgeois candidate Mathias Bakos. Bakos had 722 and Áchim 992 votes. It was not the “dust people” who voted for him - because they did not yet have the right to vote - but small farmers who owned some land and liberal-minded medium-sized companies.

Áchim helped publish a weekly newspaper and found an agricultural cooperative - to the horror of the great men. But because he was all too radical and lashing demands for rights for the poor, the curia withdrew his mandate a few weeks later and initiated a trial against him.

He won the trial but was fined. The people, on the other hand, especially the destitute poor farm workers, were punished with oppressive laws. "Serfdom has been reintroduced in Hungary!" Commented the foreign press. Many emigrated.

Despite everything, the self-proclaimed Agricultural Socialist Andreas L. Achim was re-elected as a member of parliament in 1910, but only in the second ballot. But he had neither changed nor softened his harsh method of fighting the gentlemen in parliament or in the community, on the contrary. The fighting methods of both sides became increasingly acute.

assassination

At eight o'clock in the morning on May 14, 1911, two sons of the wealthy Zsilinszky (one was Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky , who later became an anti-fascist), each armed with a Browning, a dog whip and a long stick, broke into Áchim's house. The MP Áchim was just getting dressed, so he could not see the two gentlemen straight away. They broke into his bedroom and fatally wounded the elected representative with two shots.

Aftermath

The master's sons were also acquitted in the second instance, while a witness who dared to shed light on the affair was sentenced to a heavy prison term. The murderers claimed to have acted out of self-defense, although they had acquired the weapons for this purpose and had entered Achim's house armed with the knowledge of members of the authorities, i.e. with planned intent. Her shout “die you dog!” Had been heard shortly before the shooting.

It was the time when the slogan was circulating: "To the slaughter with the socialists!"

One of the two murderers later repented: he fought for freedom in the Horthy era and was executed by the Gestapo .

literature

József Molnár : Áchim L. András élete és halála ( Eng . "Life and Death of Áchim L. András") ISBN 963-9337-39-0

Ilona Reinert-Tárnoky: Áchim, András L. , in: Biographical Lexicon for the History of Southeast Europe . Vol. 1. Munich 1974, p. 10 f.

Web links

Short biography (Hungarian)

personal data
SURNAME	Áchim, András L.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Hungarian politician
DATE OF BIRTH	March 16, 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH	Békéscsaba
DATE OF DEATH	May 14, 1911
Place of death	Békéscsaba