Another Hungary: the nineteenth-century provinces in eight lives

307 Pages·2017·16.758 MB·English

by  Nemes, Robert

Another Hungary
Stanford Studies on Central and Eastern Europe
Edited by Norman Naimark and Larry Wolff
Another Hungary
The Nineteenth-Century Provinces in Eight Lives
Robert Nemes
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2016 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission
of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nemes, Robert, author.
Title: Another Hungary : the nineteenth-century provinces in eight lives /
Robert Nemes.
Other titles: Stanford studies on Central and Eastern Europe.
Description: Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2016. |
Series: Stanford studies on Central and Eastern Europe | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016004873 (print) | LCCN 2016005673 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780804795913 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780804799126 (electronic)
Subjects: LCSH: Hungary--Biography. | Hungary--History--19th century.
Classification: LCC DB933.2 .N46 2016 (print) | LCC DB933.2 (ebook) |
DDC 920.0439/9--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016004873
Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in 11/13.5 Adobe Garamond
for my parents

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 The Aristocrat 13
2 The Merchant 41
3 The Engineer 67
4 The Teacher 93
5 The Journalist 121
6 The Rabbi 151
7 The Tobacconist 179
8 The Writer 205
Conclusion 231
Notes 243
Index 285

Acknowledgments
This book tells the story of nineteenth-century Hungary through the
lives of eight men and women. All eight have their own chapters in this
“collective biography.” This is my first attempt at biography, collective or
otherwise, a form of history I’ve found both challenging and exhilarating.
The challenges have come as I scrambled to assemble my cast of characters
(suffice it to say that “the merchant” and “the journalist” were late but wel-
come additions), tried to extract biographic material from poems about
hunting and reports on tobacco, and struggled to present fully formed char-
acters without ignoring the wider historical context. But this project has
been rewarding in so many ways.
It has repeatedly taken me to the places I write about. All eight of
these men and women came from the same region: the northeastern corner
of what was once the Kingdom of Hungary and is today the place where
Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine meet. This is a fascinating part
of the world, and I have found inspiration in its welcoming inhabitants,
wonderful museums, changing landscapes, and hearty foods. I wish I could
have worked into this book the stunning Baroque synagogue in Mád,
Hungary, or the moving “merry cemetery” in Săpânța, Romania, if only to
encourage others to go see them.
Along the way I have visited many archives and libraries in this region
(and beyond). I would especially like to recognize the staffs of the Lucian Blaga
Central University Library of Cluj-Napoca (Romania), the State District Ar-
chives of Komárno (Slovakia), and the branch of the B orsod-Abaúj-Zemplén
County Archives in Sátoraljaújhely (Hungary). Research in regional archives