Kossuth, Louis, Hung. Kossuth Lajos, 1802-94, Hungarian revolutionary hero. Born of a Protestant family and a lawyer by training, he entered politics as a member of the diet and soon won a large following. His liberal and nationalist program did not avoid the possibility of dissolving the union of the Hungarian and Austrian crowns. He was arrested in 1837, but popular pressure forced the Metternich regime to release him in 1840. Kossuth, a fiery orator, was one of the principal figures of the Hungarian revolution of Mar., 1848. When, in April, Hungary was granted a separate government, Kossuth became finance minister. He continued and intensified his anti-Austrian agitation. His principles were liberal, but his nationalism was opposed to the fulfillment of the national aspirations of the Slavic, Romanian, and German minorities in Hungary and was particularly resented in Croatia. When the Austrian government, supported by the ban [governor] of Croatia, Count Jellachich de Buzim, prepared to move against Hungary, Kossuth became head of the Hungarian government of national defense. His government withdrew to Debrecen before the advance of the Austrians under Alfred Windischgrätz. In Apr., 1849, the Hungarian parliament declared Hungary an independent republic and Kossuth became president. The Hungarians won several victories, but in 1849, Russian troops intervened in favor of Austria, and Kossuth was obliged to resign the government to General Görgey. The Hungarian surrender at Vilagos marked the end of the republic. Kossuth fled to Turkey. He visited England and the United States and received ovations as a champion of liberty. Kossuth lived in exile in England and (after 1865) in Italy. He was dissatisfied with the Ausgleich [compromise] of 1867, by which the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was created, and he refused an offer of amnesty in 1890. After his death at Turin, Italy, his body was returned to Budapest and buried in state.

(born Dec. 10, 1851, Adams Center, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 26, 1931, Lake Placid, Fla.) U.S. librarian. He graduated from Amherst College in 1874, whereupon he became acting librarian there. In 1876 he published A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a Library, in which he outlined the Dewey Decimal Classification system. He was one of the founders of the American Library Association and of Library Journal (both 1876). He set up the School of Library Economy, the first U.S. institution for training librarians. He also reorganized the N.Y. State Library (1889–1906) and established the system of traveling libraries and picture collections. A cofounder of the Spelling Reform Assn., he respelled his own name.

Learn more about Dewey, Melvil(le Louis Kossuth) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Dec. 10, 1851, Adams Center, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 26, 1931, Lake Placid, Fla.) U.S. librarian. He graduated from Amherst College in 1874, whereupon he became acting librarian there. In 1876 he published A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a Library, in which he outlined the Dewey Decimal Classification system. He was one of the founders of the American Library Association and of Library Journal (both 1876). He set up the School of Library Economy, the first U.S. institution for training librarians. He also reorganized the N.Y. State Library (1889–1906) and established the system of traveling libraries and picture collections. A cofounder of the Spelling Reform Assn., he respelled his own name.

Learn more about Dewey, Melvil(le Louis Kossuth) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Kossuth is a village in Alcorn County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 170 at the 2000 census. Its zip code is 38834.

History

Kossuth, located about ten miles southwest of Corinth, was founded in the 1840's as "New Hope." In 1852, the town changed its name to Kossuth in honor of Lajos Kossuth, a Hungarian revolutionary hero who led the democratic, anti-Habsburg Hungarian revolution of 1848. Despite initial success, the democratic state was crushed by Russian troops descended to attack Hungary and restore the rule of the Habsburg dynasty. The thirteen leading generals of Hungary were executed in the town of Arad but Regent-President Kossuth went into exile.

Kossuth visited the U.S. in 1851. He was greeted enthusiastically and would gain acclaim as one of the greatest orators of all time. Learning English and many other languages while he was imprisoned by the Austrian Government in 1837-40, he would later coin the phrase, "All for the people and all by the people. Nothing about the people without the people. That is Democracy, and that is the ruling tendency of the spirit of our age," spoken before the Ohio State Legislature, February 16, 1852, given over a decade before Lincoln's famed "for the people, by the people" speech given at Gettysburg in 1863. The renowned Ralph Waldo Emerson said in greeting Kossuth on his arrival at Concord, MA, May 11, 1852:

"[we] have been hungry to see the man whose extraordinary eloquence is seconded by the splendor and the solidity of his actions."

Kossuth was only the second foreign leader (second to Gen. Lafayette) to address a joint session of Congress. Kossuth even spawned a fashion craze (moustache-less beard with TopHat) in the ever trendy US. The American Hungarian Federation dedicated a bust that now sits proudly in the US Capitol - it reads, "Louis Kossuth, Father of Hungarian Democracy"

Geography

Kossuth is located at (34.874561, -88.644184).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.0 square miles (2.5 km²), all of it land.

Communities near Kossuth

• Corinth, Mississippi - 8.21 statute miles
• Rienzi, Mississippi - 9.97 statute miles

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 170 people, 73 households, and 57 families residing in the village. The population density was 177.2 people per square mile (68.4/km²). There were 77 housing units at an average density of 80.3/sq mi (31.0/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.82% White, 0.59% Native American, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.53% of the population.

There were 73 households out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.0% were married couples living together, 1.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.9% were non-families. 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.67.

In the village the population was spread out with 18.2% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 34.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 109.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.6 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $38,750, and the median income for a family was $40,714. Males had a median income of $29,875 versus $23,750 for females. The per capita income for the village was $21,131. About 2.9% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under the age of eighteen and 9.1% of those sixty five or over.

Education

The Village of Kossuth is served by the Alcorn School District.
Kossuth High School
Bo Seago, Principal

Libraries

• Rienzi Public Library - a branch of the Northeast Regional Library System

Transportation

Highways

• Mississippi Highway 2

References

• Brieger, James. Hometown, Mississippi. (1997). ISBN 1-886017-27-1

External links

• The American Hungarian Federation, founded 1906
• The Hungary Page, featuring Nobel Prize Winners and Famous Hungarians