Mihály Táncsics ( sr, Михајло Танчић, Mihajlo Tančić; 21 April 1799 – 28 June 1884) was a Hungarian writer, teacher, journalist and politician.

Life

Mihály Táncsics was born on 21 April 1799 in the village of

Ácsteszér Ácsteszér (''Ács-Teszér'', german: Tesier, Zierndorf) is a village in Komárom-Esztergom county, Hungary. Etymology The name of the village referred to the profession of the villagers. Hungarian ''ács'' and Slavic ''tesar'' with the same ...

in the Komárom-Esztergom county of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

. By his own account, his father was of Croatian antecedents and his mother was of Slovak origin, but he was brought up to be a Hungarian-speaker and an ardent Hungarian. He was incarcerated in

Pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

for his radical political convictions in 1846. He propagated in his pamphlet ''The Word of the People Is God's Word,'' a paraphrase of ''Vox populi, vox Dei''. The pamphlet resulted in his arrest. Táncsics was freed from the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

's prison on 15 March 1848, the very day when the Hungarian revolution broke out. Although Táncsics's role in the Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas is highly emphasized in Hungarian history books, however, in literature he does not rank among the great active heroes of these events. He is remembered as someone who is freed rather than someone who liberates others. As a teacher, Táncsics tirelessly worked to extend elementary education in Hungarian among children and adults in Hungary's urban centres, and his slim textbook on geography with a map of Hungary was part of a large educational project.

Commemoration

He is the namesake of a Hungarian national award for

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

, the Táncsics Prize. In 1948 a Hungarian 20 Forint coin was issued for the Centenary of the 1848 Revolution with his image. * On 15 March 1947 Hungary issued a postage stamp in his honor in Hungarian Freedom-fighters series. * On 15 March 1952 Hungary honoured him by a postage stamp in the Freedom-Fighters of 1848 series. * On 13 March 1998 he was remembered by issuing a postage stamp in the 1848-49 Revolution and War of Independence series.colnect.com/en/stamps/stamp/182743-Mihály_Táncsics-1848-49_Revolution_and_War_of_Independence-Hungary. (Scott # 3600)

References

* 1799 births 1884 deaths People from Komárom-Esztergom County Hungarian writers Hungarian people of Croatian descent Hungarian people of Slovak descent Burials at Kerepesi Cemetery {{Hungary-writer-stub