In 2023, we commemorated the 200th anniversary of the ‘providential statesman,’ Count Gyula Andrássy Sr. The bicentenary celebration provided us with the opportunity to reflect on the life and work of an exceptional diplomat-politician who lived during an era often referred to as the ‘Belle Époque.’ Count Gyula Andrássy Jr. carried on the legacy of his father – as well as political and diplomatic predecessor – Count Gyula Andrássy Sr., embracing the same principles and values during a period overshadowed by World War I and marked by the extraordinary crisis that ensued in its wake. However, World War I and the political events surrounding it are linked not only to our Foundation’s namesake Count Gyula Andrássy Jr., but also to Thomas Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States of America and the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919.
Woodrow Wilson as US President, Count Gyula Andrássy Sr. as Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister and Hungarian Prime Minister, and Count Gyula Andrássy Jr. as Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister and Hungarian Interior Minister, had an impact on the development of their own nations as well as on the surrounding nations during their lifetime thanks to their wisdom, good judgment and extraordinary abilities, and thus are deservedly remembered and respected by posterity as outstanding statesmen. As Wilson put it, one important pillar of the American world is to make the world a safer place, and diplomacy is an important tool for that. The two Counts Gyula Andrássy also worked on the basis of the same principles – and those ideas are still valid today.
It was in this spirit that representatives of the United States Embassy in Budapest visited the Count Gyula Andrássy Jr. Foundation today. The meeting was attended by Ms. Allison Haugen (Diplomat, Political and Economic Affairs) and Mr. Gergely Gaal (Expert) on behalf of the Embassy, and hosted by Dr. Erika Szeiler (Chair, Board of Trustees, Count Gyula Andrássy Jr. Foundation), who was accompanied by Dr. Éva Fodor Kovács (founder, lawyer), and Szilvia Mária Tóth (Director of Finance).
The Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and its staff were proud to present the achievements of the Foundation so far, as well as the Foundation’s goals and future plans and programmes. It was emphasized that in working towards its goals, the Foundation needs supporters as well as cooperating partners. As the Foundation’s namesake was a statesman, a diplomat-politician, we regularly invite representatives of the diplomatic corps in Hungary to our events. Carrying on the spirit and historical heritage of the two Counts Andrássy, our Foundation follows historical examples in seeking to strengthen its relations, and welcomes the cooperation and support of embassies accredited to Hungary in the context of formal collaborations. We also welcome the expression of interest, as well as the eventual cooperation, of the US diplomatic representation in Hungary in the hope of realizing our objectives and future programs at the highest possible level.
Following the era of President Woodrow Wilson and the two Counts Andrássy, social development took a new direction, and in the midst of rapid changes in everyday life, attitudes to traditional values are also undergoing constant transformation. A thorough knowledge of history is vital in order to understand that the world we live in today was created by the art of diplomacy and the idea of a global balance of power.
Through its activities, our Foundation, as a non-governmental organization, can become yet another link connecting our two countries along the ideals of the two Counts Andrássy, so much akin to those of President Wilson – as all three of these outstanding statesmen believed that understanding the greatest questions of history is inevitable if we want to enable our new generations to shape our common future.
Budapest, 24 February 2024
The Board of Trustees of the Count Gyula Andrássy Jr. Foundation