Ernő Kiss

Ernő Kiss (13 June 1799 in Temesvár – 6 October 1849 in Arad) was a honvéd (Hungarian Army) lieutenant-general. He was executed for his part in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and he is considered one of the 13 Martyrs of Arad. Ernő Kiss was from a Transylvanian family with Armenian roots.

He was born into a wealthy family partly of Armenian origin. His grandfather was Izsák Kiss who by redeeming the Saxon tithes in Transylvania made useful services to the treasury. In 1782 for this he earned for himself and his heirs two estates in Torontál County which after his death in 1807 went to the family. His father was Ágoston Kiss and his mother was Anna Bogdanovics who after had been early widowed married later with Ernő Leuven. He had two siblings: Gergely who died in 1815, and a sister Mária who became the wife of István Pejachevich.

His wife was Krisztina Horváth, they had three daughters:

After graduating from the Vienna Theresianum in 1818 he joined the Imperial army's cavalry regiment. In 1845 he was the commander of the 2. (Hannover) cavalry regiment. Under his command also served future martyrs of Arad such as József Nagysándor and Károly Vécsey. In the spring of 1848 he stationed with his regiment in Nagykikinda (present-day Kikinda) thus he participated in battles against the Serb rebels. He initiated the first major victory in the southern land, capturing the Serbian camp in Perlasz (present-day Perlez) on 2 September.

Before the Battle of Pákozd, Lajos Batthyány wanted him to take the leadership of the main Hungarian Army but finally it did not happen because at the military council in Sukoró János Móga volunteered to fight against the Croats. Kiss served only as an observer in the battle. On 12 October he was appointed as a major general and took the leadership of the Banat corps.

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