Ernő Kiss
Ernő Kiss (13 June 1799 in Temesvár – 6 October 1849 in Arad) was a honvédség (Hungarian Army) general. He was executed for his part in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, and is considered one of the 13 Martyrs of Arad. Ernő Kiss was from a Transylvanian family with Armenian roots.
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Family
He was born into a wealthy family partly of Armenian origin. His grandfather was of Saxon descent and had titles in Transylvania, receiving tithes for his treasury, and in 1782 earned for himself and his heirs two Torontál County estates, which after his death in 1807, went to the family. His father was Augustine Kiss and his mother was Anna Bogdanovics who was widowed by Leuven Erno.[1] He had two siblings: John, and a sister Mary who became the wife of Stephen Pejachevich, who died in 1815.
His wife, Krisztina Horvath, bore him three daughters:
- Ernesztin, died at the age of seven,[2]
- Augusta (1822-1900). After the defeat of the rebellion she was imprisoned in Timisoara, where she was questioned about certain subject for two years, until finally being released.[3] Her husband was John Daniel, Torontál County sub-prefect who died in 1888.[4]
- Rose (1823-1900), who married George Bobor (1819-1879).[5]
- Erno Turati, whom he had by another woman, lived in Italy.[6]
Career
After graduating from the Vienna Theresianum in 1818 he joined the Imperial army. By 1845, he was a commander in the 2nd Hannover cavalry regiment. Other future martyrs of served under his command. In the spring of 1848 he was stationed with the Kikinda regiment, participating in battles against Serb rebels. He initiated the first major southern victory, routing the Serbian camp at Perlasz, on 2 September.
Before the battle of Pákozd, Lajos Batthyány wanted him to take leadership of the main Hungarian army for the uprising, but the appointment fell through with the military council at Sukoro, electing John Moga to fight against the Croats. Kiss served only as an observer in the battle. On 12 October he was appointed major general for the first military defense and took command of the Banat corps.
On 12 December he was promoted to lieutenant general. After the Pancevo battle of 2 January, however, the officers resigned and handed over command to János Damjanich. As compensation for his service and cooperation he was appointed to High Command performing administrative tasks in Debrecen. On 9 March he received the Hungarian Order of Military Merit II class. By the end of War of Independence the Minister of Administration replaced several times with him as the final one. He was captured and brought into the custody of Czarist Russia but then turned over to Imperial Austrian captivity.
Aftermath
His sentence was modified at the last minute to death by firing squad, rather than hanging. Joseph Schweidel justified this as more dignified as a military death rather than a criminal. He took a shot in the shoulder and kept facing the firing squad. He was then executed in the third group of four prisoners by firing squad.
After the execution he was ordered buried in the Arad cemetery under a pseudonym. However he was later exhumed and re-buried at Katalinfalva (now Ravni Topolovac) where he rested for sixteen years. Afterwards his family moved his body to the family crypt within a Catholic church in Elemir where he has laid since.
References
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