Katinka Andrássy – The Countess with a Passion for Politics and Diplomacy – Fiume Road Graveyard

Fact of the Hungarian figure „Margit Schlacta – The first woman to be elected to the Hungarian Parliament”

Part of the „The emancipation of women” topic

Countess Katinka Andrássy (1892-1995) was born in one of the most influential noble families in Hungary. She got married to Mihály Károlyi a Hungarian leftist politician, shorttime Prime Minister during the turbulent period of 1918–1919. Katinka Andrássy’s memoir is a prime source of the early 20th century Hungarian history and the life of noble families. Katinka Andrássy was a strong supporter of her husband’s political aims and they also shared radical leftist views. As Hungary’s first lady during Károlyi’s short-lived government, Katinka Andrássy was deeply involved in her husband’s efforts to implement social and political reforms. After Károlyi fell from power in 1919, the family had to flee to Western exile. They moved to Italy, then to France, and at last they settled in England. After Word War II. The couple returned to politics in Hungary for a short period of time when Károlyi was appointed the Hungarian Ambassador to France in 1946. After the communist takeover in Hungary the couple moved to exile once again where Katinka Andrássy dedicated her time to finish her memoires and reflect on her personal life and the principal events of Hungarian history in the 20th century. Her legacy, memorialized in Budapest’s Fiumei Cemetery, highlights the significant role aristocratic women like her played in shaping the political and cultural developments of their time.