Károly Vécsey

Count Károly Vécsey de Hernádvécse et Hajnácskeő (November 24, 1803 – October 6, 1849) 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.

The Vécsey family originated from Ugocsa and Abaúj counties, tracing its ancestry there back to the 15th century. The family took the name of the village of its first known ancestors at Hernádvécse, Abaúj. Balázs Szőllősi de Vécse born in 1470. The family’s wealth grew immensely when Sándor Vécsey married Mária Csápy de Polyánka around 1517, whose family had Hungarian royal ties. On November 21, 1692 Lipót László Vécsey married and forged two branches of the family; the Gömör and Várad branches, which lasted through the 19th century. The family thrived in this time and created a long tradition of military service.

Along the Gömör line, Siegbert Vécsey, Károly's grandfather, was born in 1789, and was eventually appointed to the Military Order of Maria Theresa and became a lieutenant-general in the Imperial army. His son, Count Ágoston Vécsey was a cavalry commander and also admitted into the Order of Maria Theresa, and was the last commander of the Viennese Hungarian Noble Guard before it was disbanded. His wife, Károly Vécsey's mother, Amalia Colson died in 1826. From this marriage the following children were born:

Karoly Vécsey married his wife Carolina Duffaud on August 15, 1849. She gave birth to a stillborn child soon after.

Vécsey's confession at Arad began as follows: "My name is Count Károly Vécsey, I was born in Pest, Hungary, I am forty-two years old, Catholic, married, no children." However, birth records at Budapest make no mention of him during this time. This confession also contradicted his enrolment form at the Military Engineering Academy of Vienna which stated: "Vécsey, Károly. Born 24 Nov 1803 in Russland zu Retsniow." It was therefore refuted that he was born in Pest.

There is little known about his childhood. Although it is known that he spent his summers at the family estate, Vécsey Castle at Solt, with his uncle, József Vécsey, in Gömör County. He spoke little Hungarian at first since both his parents had other primary languages. Vécsey therefore likely did not fully identify as Hungarian at this time. However this probably did not last long, growing up in a Hungarian dynasty. He followed the family tradition of choosing a military career and soon enrolled at the Empire’s most prestigious military academy.

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