Hrabia Maurycy August Beniowski (1746–1786)
Count Mauritius August Benyovszky (1746–1786)

The Pole, Hungarian, Slovak or cosmopolitan?

Summary/Abstract: Count Mauritius August Benyovszky (1746–1786) was a famous adventurer and traveller, who became known only after his death when his Memoirs and Travels were published (London 1790). Although his father’s and mother’s families had the origin in the Hungarian Kingdom, he sometimes stated that he was of a Polish (or a Hungarian-Polish) origin. However, this statement is not proven by the historical research. The current assignment of Slovak ethnicity to his person is not historically correct as well. In fact, the nobility in the Hungarian Kingdom during the Early Modern Age identified itself with natio Hungarica, a widely shared identity in territorial rather than ethnic meaning. Although Benyovszky often referred to Hungary as his homeland, we can rather describe him as a cosmopolitan. He lived in and was loyal to countries that could provide him with the opportunity of self-fulfilment and social advancement.

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