Johann "Hans" Kudlich (

Americanized Americanization or Americanisation (see spelling differences) is the influence of the American culture and economy on other countries outside the United States, including their media, cuisine, business practices, popular culture, technology ...

as John; October 23, 1823 – November 10, 1917) was an Austrian political activist, Austrian legislator, American immigrant, writer, and physician.

Early life

Kudlich was born in Úvalno (that time called Lobenstein) near

Opava Opava (; , ) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Opava (river), Opava River. Opava is one of the historical centres of Silesia and was a historical capital of Czech Sile ...

in Upper Silesia,

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

(today the Czech Republic) on October 23, 1823, in to a peasant family.

Political life

He is noted for being a leader of the revolutionary movement to end the

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

policies of the

under

Ferdinand I of Austria Ferdinand I ( 19 April 1793 – 29 June 1875) was Emperor of Austria from March 1835 until his abdication in December 1848. He was also King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Croatia and King of Bohemia, Bohemia (as Ferdinand V), King of Lombardy– ...

. From the 1700s, the empire had enforced a decree known as the Robot Patent which required farmers to serve an annual quota of labor without compensation to the noble landowners. Kudlich was elected to the Austrian Reichstag (parliament) in early 1848 at the age of 25. He introduced a bill to abolish forced servitude and the bill was approved by the legislature. He was popularly titled as the ', meaning the liberator of peasant farmers from the involuntary servitude of

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

. The parliament was dissolved by force on March 7, 1849, when the

rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

that had briefly taken control of Vienna was crushed. Kudlich up to the time of the dissolution of the parliament had worked to rally support for the revolution. After the dissolution of the parliament he fled first to Germany and then to Switzerland. After his political career, Kudlich obtained a medical degree in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

and

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. He left Switzerland in 1853, emigrated to the United States, and settled in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

. He worked as a medical doctor, and co-founded the Hoboken Academy in 1861, a German-American school (later merged with the Stevens Preparatory School, later Stevens Academy, which ceased in 1974).

Death

Kudlich died November 11, 1917, in Hoboken, New Jersey, US. In 1925 his ashes and those of his wife, Louisa Kudlich (née Vogt), were interred in the mausoleum at the base of the Hans Kudlich Observation Tower. The tower is located in Úvalno (Kudlich's birthplace) in what is now the Czech Republic.

Books by Hans Kudlich

* ', (Retrospectives and Memories of Hans Kudlich, With the Author's Portrayals). 3 vols, Vienna-Leipzig-Budapest, 1873. * ' (The Revolution of 1848). Litoměřice, 1913.

References

External links