Egy partiumi zsidó ügyvéd politikai pályakezdete

Abstract

The present study makes an attempt to assess the political role-taking opportunities of Dr. Samu Kelemen (1862–1916) who was an Israelite and one of the representatives of Szatmárnémeti in the Parliament. From 1905, he was MP of the city that had been granted municipal rights in the Party of Independence and '48. Dr. Samu Kelemen, as a freelance intellectual, belonged to the middle classes. As a result of his public activity, the sought-after lawyer got integrated into the social life of Szatmárnémeti. Dr. Kelemen served as member of the Municipal Committee; moreover, as the director and later as prosecutor of the Trade and Industrial Bank of Szatmár, he also dealt with financial institutions. He was the main architect and president of the Chamber of Commerce and Economy of Szatmár, and was also active in the field of journalism, which culminated during the period of his political career. The character, public-political style, party preference of Dr. Samu Kelemen, as well as the rhetoric and content of his articles and public speeches at the beginning of his political career are studied in the present paper. An attempt is also made to reconstruct Dr. Samu Kelemen's conception of electoral law, since the issue of electoral reform became a dominant topic of political discourse from the governmental crisis of 1905–1906 onwards.