KOSSUTH

kossuth, ferencz lajos akos (1841- ), hungarian statesman, the son of lajos kossuth, was born on the 16th of november 1841, and educated at the paris polytechnic and the london university, where in 1859 he won a prize for political economy. after working as a civil engineer on the dean forest railway he went (1861) to italy, where he resided for the next thirty-three years, taking a considerable part in the railway construction of the peninsula, and at the same time keeping alive the hungarian independence question by a whole series of pamphlets and newspaper articles. at cesena in 1876 he married emily hoggins. in 1885 he was decorated for his services by the italian government. his last great engineering work was the construction of the steel bridges for the nile. in 1894 he escorted his father's remains to hungary, and the following year resolved to settle in his native land and took the oath of allegiance. as early as 1867 he had been twice elected a member of the hungarian diet, but on both occasions refused to accept the mandate. on the 10th of april 1895 he was returned for tapolca and in 1896 for cegled, and from that time took an active part in hungarian politics. in the autumn of 1898 he became the leader of the obstructionists or "independence party," against the successive szell, khuen-hadervary, szapary and stephen tisza administrations (1898-1904), exercising great influence not only in parliament but upon the public at large through his articles in the _egyetertes_. the elections of 1905 having sent his party back with a large majority, he was received in audience by the king and helped to construct the wekerle ministry, of which he was one of the most distinguished members. see sturm, _the almanack of the hungarian diet_ (1905-1910), art. "kossuth" (hung.) (budapest, 1905).