1. Maurice Benyovszky is considered a national hero in Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
23 Facts About Maurice Benyovszky
1. 2.
Maurice Benyovszky subsequently escaped and returned to Europe via Macau and Mauritius, arriving in France.
3.
In 1773, Maurice Benyovszky reached agreement with the French government to establish a trading post on Madagascar.
4.
Maurice Benyovszky then returned to Europe, joined the Austrian Army and fought in the War of the Bavarian Succession.
5.
Maurice Benyovszky was baptised under the Latin names Mattheus Mauritius Michal Franciscus Seraphinus.
6.
Maurice Benyovszky was the eldest of four children born to Samuel and Rozalia: he had one sister, Marta, and two brothers, Ferenc and Emanuel.
7.
In 1765 Maurice Benyovszky occupied his mother's property in Hruso near Verbo, which had been legally inherited by one of his step-brothers-in-law.
8.
Maurice Benyovszky's flight violated a legal edict forbidding him to leave the country.
9.
Shortly after his arrest, Maurice Benyovszky was briefly imprisoned in the nearby Stara Lubovna castle.
10.
Additionally, some of the events described by Maurice Benyovszky are so implausible that the entire voyage in this area must be considered a fiction.
11.
Maurice Benyovszky wanted to leave but his associates insisted on staying.
12.
The locals were grateful toward Maurice Benyovszky for killing the villagers, who they considered their enemies.
13.
Maurice Benyovszky's exploits have been questioned by several experts over the years.
14.
The population of Taiwan given by Maurice Benyovszky's account is inconsistent with estimates of that time.
15.
Maurice Benyovszky took responsibility for selling the ship and all the furs they had loaded at Kamchatka, and then negotiated with the various European trading establishments for passage back to Europe.
16.
Maurice Benyovszky managed to get a passport to enter the mainland of France and he departed almost immediately for Paris, leaving his companions behind.
17.
The French authorities and traders on Mauritius, meanwhile, were writing to Paris, complaining of the problems which Maurice Benyovszky was causing for their own trade with Madagascar.
18.
Maurice Benyovszky managed to be granted a medal and considerable amounts of money in back-pay, and lobbied the ministers for more money and resources for a different development plan for Madagascar.
19.
Maurice Benyovszky was here until the end of 1781, when he abandoned the project, leaving behind several large debts.
20.
Maurice Benyovszky then made his way to the United States and, with a recommendation from Benjamin Franklin, whom he had met in Paris, attempted to persuade George Washington to fund a militia under Benyovszky's leadership, to fight in the American War of Independence.
21.
Washington remained unconvinced, and Maurice Benyovszky then returned to Europe, arriving in Britain in late 1783.
22.
However, since there is no further report of Maurice Benyovszky being alive, this report was most likely a false rumour or misunderstanding.
23.
Much of what Maurice Benyovszky claimed to have done in Poland, Kamchatka, Japan, Formosa, and Madagascar is questionable at best, but in any case has left no lasting traces in the history of war, exploration, or colonialism.