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Hungarian statesman (1802–1894) who played a leading role in bringing parliamentary government to that country. After abdicating his briefly held post as regent-president in the turmoil that followed the ascension of Emperor Franz Joseph in 1848, the fugitive leader made a successful tour of Britain and the United States. Scarce 2.25 x 3.75 carte-de-visite portrait of Lajos Kossuth in later age, signed and inscribed in ink (translated): “To my nephew Béla Ruttkay, with love, Kossuth Lajos, Turin April 27 1868.” Published by the Parisian studio Le Lieure. In fine condition.
By April 1868, Kossuth had lived in Turin for nearly a decade, having settled there after failed efforts to revive Hungarian independence. The Revolution of 1848–49—during which he served as Governor-President—ended with Russian-backed Austrian suppression in August 1849, forcing him into exile. After periods in the Ottoman Empire, England, and the United States, he established himself in Turin in 1861, where he remained until his death in 1894.
The year 1868 followed the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, which Kossuth vehemently opposed, declaring in a widely circulated open letter to Ferenc Deák that it betrayed Hungarian sovereignty. Refusing to accept the new political order, he never returned to Hungary and died in exile.
The recipient, Béla Ruttkay, belonged to a family associated with Hungarian patriot circles. Kossuth’s use of “unoka öcsém” (‘nephew,’ in the broader Hungarian familial sense) suggests a close personal connection.
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