Maurice Benyovszky

Who was Maurice Benyovszky?

General Count Móric František Ágost Benyóvszky de Benyó et Liptóújvár, was a Slovak-Hungarian count with Hungarian, Polish and Slovak ancestry. He was an explorer, writer, ruler of Madagascar, and military officer in the French, Polish, Austrian and American armies. In his memoirs he described himself on several occasions as a "Hungarian and Polish nobleman".

Benyovszky was born and raised in Vrbové, Slovakia, into the ancient Szlachta Benyovszky family in what was then the northern Kingdom of Hungary. Regardless of his nationality, he is a pride of three nations: Hungarian, Slovak, and Polish. His career began as an officer of the Habsburg army in the Seven Years' War during the reign of Empress Maria Theresia. In 1768 he joined the Confederation of Bar, a Polish national movement against Russian intervention. He was captured by the Russians, interned in Kazan, and later exiled in Kamchatka. Subsequently, he escaped and returned to Europe via Macau and Madagascar. In 1772 Benyovszky arrived in Paris where he met King Louis XV of France and was offered the privilege to act on behalf of France to colonize Madagascar.