Béni Kállay

Hungarian statesman and nobleman (1839–1903)

Béni Kállay de Nagy Kálló or Benjamin von Kállay (Kállay Benjámin; – 1903 07 13) was an Austro Hungarian statesman and a Hungarian nobleman.

Kállay was born in Pest (today part of Budapest). His family derived their name from their estates at Nagykálló, in Szabolcs, and claimed descent from the Balogh Semsen tribe, which had settled the area of the historical Borsod County, Szabolcs County, and Szatmár County in the late 9th century. They played a prominent part in Hungarian history as early as the reign of King Coloman (1070–1116); and from King Matthias Corvinus (1458–1490) they received their estates at Mezőtúr, near Kecskemét, granted to Mihály Kállay for his heroic defense of Jajce in Bosnia. Stephan von Kállay, Benjamin's father, a superior official of the Hungarian government, died in 1845, and his widow, who survived until 1902, devoted herself to the education of her five year old son. Amalie von Kállay née Blašković de Ebetske, was of Serbian descent. She took over the care of Kállay's education and directed his interest to Slavic studies in general and particularly to Serbian history. She spoke Serbian and it is very likely that her son heard some of her reminiscences relating to the country of her ancestors. She engaged an excellent teacher in the person of Mihály Táncsics, a well known populist tribune and revolutionary writer of Serb and Slovak descent, who was once imprisoned by the Austrians for seditious writings in 1847–48 and again in 1860 (the same Buda jail that Lajos Kossuth was incarcerated from 1837–40). At an early age Kállay manifested a deep interest in politics, and especially in the Eastern Question. He traveled in Russia, European Turkey and Asia Minor, gaining a thorough knowledge of Greek, Turkish, and several Slavic languages. He became as proficient in Serbian as in his native tongue.