Arisztid Dessewffy

Who was Arisztid Dessewffy?

Arisztid Dessewffy was a honvéd general in the Hungarian Army. He was executed for his part in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, and is considered one of the 13 Martyrs of Arad. He commanded 100,000 men against Russian troops and surrendered because of the massive size of the encroaching Russian army. By doing so, he spared his men. On the night of his execution, he was said to be sleeping, with no anxiety about his impending death. He was executed around 4 AM by firing squad, along with three others. The Prince of Luxembourg intervened at the last minute to spare the three from hanging, which was considered public humiliation. It was said that while the execution was taking place, the Austrian generals were loudly clinking their beer steins together in celebration of the Hungarian defeat. From that day, Hungarians vowed to not clink their beer glasses for 150 years. Though the time frame passed in 1999, it’s still considered bad manners to clink beer glasses in Hungary.