Wilhelm Vázsonyi

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Wilhelm Vázsonyi (1868–1926) was a Hungarian publicist and deputy born at Sümeg. He was educated at Budapest, where his remarkable eloquence made him the leader of all student movements during his university career. After he had completed his studies the most vital social questions found in him an earnest investigator. He aroused a national sentiment against dueling, his success being proved by the numerous antidueling clubs in Hungary. Later he began a social and journalistic agitation in behalf of the official recognition of the Jewish religion, and kept the matter before the public until the law granting recognition was sanctioned in 1895.

In 1894 Vázsonyi founded the first democratic club in Budapest, and became a common councilor. In 1900 he established the political weekly "Új Század" ("The New Century") for the dissemination of democratic ideas throughout the country; and at the same time he organized democratic clubs in all the large Hungarian cities. In 1901 Vázsonyi was elected deputy for the sixth district of the capital, on a democratic platform, of which he was the only public representative in the Hungarian Parliament as of 1906; and at the election of Jan. 26, 1905, he defeated Hieronymi, minister of commerce, as a candidate for the deputyship from his district.

Besides numbers of articles in the daily press, Vázsonyi wrote the following works: "Önkormányzat" (1890), on autonomy; "A Választási elv a Külföldi Közigazgatásban" (1891), on the principle of election in foreign governments; "A Szavazás Deczentralizácziója" (1892), on decentralization in voting; and "A Királyi Placetum a Magyar Alkotmányban" (1893), on the royal veto in the Hungarian constitution.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.