What happened to the wives and fiancées of the 13 Martyrs of Arad? – 6 October 1849

The son of the first Hungarian PM wanted to marry a member of the Habsburg family but Mrs Batthyány baulked his plan and said that “We do not marry into the murderer family!” Most wives married again after October 6 but honoured the memories of their husbands until death. They did not have an easy life as, after the lost freedom fight, most of their properties were confiscated, but they never bowed before Franz Joseph I.

We already wrote about the 13 Martyrs of Arad executed on 6 October 1849, in the city of Arad, after the Hungarian Revolution (1848-1849) was militarily defeated by the troops of the Austrian Empire and Russia. After this, Franz Joseph I re-established the Habsburg rule in Hungary, introducing the era of retaliation led by Haynau. This lasted until the Compromise of 1867. We wrote about the last sentences of the martyrs, and how the first Hungarian PM tried to kill himself in prison with a paper knife. However, we have never mentioned what had happened with the wives of the martyrs, even though sometimes, their lives after October 6 was even harder than facing the firing squad.

Mrs Batthány: Antónia Zichy (1816-1888)

After the execution of his husband, she emigrated to Paris and later moved to Zürich. Mrs Batthyány returned home to Dáka only in 1856 so she could take part in the funeral ceremony of his former husband, the first Hungarian PM. When his son met Baroness Marie Louise von Wallersee, the niece of Sissy, Franz Joseph’s wife, and wanted to marry her, she said that “we do not marry into the murderer family!” She threatened his son that on the day of the wedding, she would commit suicide. Thus, the planned marriage was cancelled. She was buried in 1888 and the farewell letter of his husband was placed on her heart.

Mrs Damjanich: Emília Csernovics (1819-1909)

 She was of Serbian origins like her husband; however, they talked in Hungarian instead of German within the family. They married in 1847 in Arad because Damjanich was stationed in the city under the command of Haynau, who was a family friend of theirs those days, invited to lunch many times by the Damjanich family. The widow commemorated the execution of the 13 Martyrs together with her fellow sufferers every year after 1849. After the Compromise, she wanted to get back her confiscated trousseau; however, her application was rejected. A former officer of the Hungarian National Army advised her that she should turn directly to Franz Joseph but she simply left the room the moment she heard his idea.

Mrs Dessewffy: Emma Merse (1823-1871)

 They married only in July 1849. Her husband asked General János Máriássy to take care of his wife after his execution. Finally, he married her in 1857, one year after he was released from prison.

Mrs Kiss: Krisztina Horváth Szentgyörgyi (1805-?)

General Ernő Kiss met his later wife as a young officer in 1825, at a ball in Balatonfüred. The event was organized by Krisztina’s father, and it was the first Anna Ball in the city. Unfortunately, Krisztina died presumably in 1828, so Ernő Kiss addressed his farewell letters to his daughters. Interestingly, one of his collateral descendants was Miklós Kiss whose wife, Katharina Schratt, was a mistress of Franz Joseph.