Miklós Wesselényi

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Baron Miklós Wesselényi (December 20, 1796–April 2, 1850), Hungarian statesman, son of Baron Miklós Wesselényi and Ilona Cserei, was born at Zsibó, and was educated at his father's castle by Mózes Pataky in the most liberal and patriotic direction.

In 1823 he permanently entered public life and made the acquaintance of Count Stephen Széchenyi whose companion he was on a long educational foreign tour. On his return from this tour, he became one of the leaders of the liberal movement in the Upper House. In 1833 his Balítéletek ("Prejudices")appeared , which was for a long time a prohibited book. He was the foremost leader of the Opposition at the diet of 1834, and his freely expressed opinions on land-redemption, together with his efforts to give greater publicity to the debates of the diet by printing them, involved him in two expensive crown prosecutions. He was imprisoned at Gräfenberg, where he had gone to be cured of an eye trouble, and two years later became quite blind. Subsequently, he did much for agriculture, children's homes and the introduction and extension of the silk industry in Hungary. The events of 1848 brought him home from a long sojourn abroad, but he was no longer the man he once was, and he soon withdrew again to Gräfenberg. He died on his way back to Hungary.