ACSÁDY, IGNÁC

ACSÁDY, IGNÁC (1845–1906), Hungarian historian and writer. Born in Nagy-Károly, Acsády took his doctorate of philosophy in Budapest. He wrote many novels and plays and was a regular contributor to the Hungarian press. His main importance lies, however, in the field of historiography. Acsády's work as an historian is marked by his anti-feudal and progressive views. In his novel Fridényi bankja ("Fridenyi's Bank," 1882; new edition: 1968) he criticized the dominant role of money in the contemporary world. His liberal outlook is also stressed in his A magyar birodalom története ("History of the Hungarian Empire"), and especially in his most important work A magyar jobbágyság története ("History of Hungarian Serfhood"), which was translated into Slovakian and Russian. Acsády's main interests were economic conditions in the 16th and 17th centuries and the fate of the common people. He advised the Jews to unite with the peasants against the antisemitism of the lower and middle classes, and he fought constantly for equal rights for the Jews of Hungary. In 1883 he published Jewish and Non-Jewish Hungarians after the Emancipation, and in 1894 he helped to found the Hungarian Jewish Literary Society. After World War II a street in Budapest was named after him and a plaque dedicated in his memory. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: P. Gunst, Acsády Ignác történetirása (1961). (Alexander Scheiber)