Marcell Jankovics the Elder

Marcell Jankovics in Hungarian "gala costume" (Hungarian "Díszmagyar")

Marcell Jankovics the Elder Ä. (Born November 3, 1874 in Nemesvid-Gárdospuszta, Schomodei County , Austria-Hungary ; † November 12, 1949 in Budapest , Hungary ) was a lawyer and publicist , member of the Hungarian Reichstag and a well-known mountaineer .

Life

Marcell Jankovics comes from an old family from Nemesvid-Gárdospuszta, near the small Hungarian town of Marcali in Somogy County. Here, south of the "Hungarian Sea", Lake Balaton , he was born on November 3, 1874 as the son of the landowner Marcell Jankovics the Elder. Ä. (1839 - 1874) born. He had an older sister Luisa (1873 - 1878), who, however, died in childhood. He attended the first years of elementary school in nearby Nagykanizsa [Eng. Großkirchen, also Groß-Kanizsa] in Zala County . Jankovics was never allowed to get to know his father, as he was only born after his father's death - as a " posthumus ". When Jankovics was eight years old, the family moved to Pressburg . He was born by his mother, Eugénia. Meszlényi and the grandfather (maternal), the Honvéd - Colonel Jenő Meszlényi.

Because of his poor health, suspected of having a lung disease , his family doctor recommended him to stay in the mountains. Already on his first trip to Tyrol , he was overwhelmed by the beauty of the high mountains. At the age of 16 he climbed the 3369 meter high Schwarzenstein in the Zillertal Alps . In 1893 he came to Zermatt , where, only 19 years old , he climbed the Breithorn (4,164 m above sea level), his first four-thousand-meter peak. His love for the mountains never let go of his life, he also began to get involved in tourist and mountaineering associations. He was also the author of several mountain books. Between 1914 and 1920 he was chairman of the Hungarian Tourist Association; 1918 - 1927 Chairman of the Mountaineering Association. He also wrote several publications about his experiences in the mountains. His book "Az Alpesek" [ Ger . "The Alps"] appeared again in 2002 on the initiative of the Hungarian Mountaineering Association.

After graduating from the Catholic grammar school in Preßburg, he visited old Lajos Kossuth in 1892 and 1893, with whom he was related and who at that time was already living in exile in Turin, Italy . Kossuth was married to his grandfather's sister, Terézia Meszlényi. After his return, he began law studies at the Bratislava Academy of Law, which he in 1897 with the graduation to the Dr. jur. completed. In 1900 he opened a law firm in Pressburg, where he worked as a private lawyer. He was an enthusiastic “Pressburg” and local patriot . Even if he was not born in Pressburg, he always considered Pressburg to be his hometown, as he had lived here since childhood. During this time he also began to be politically active.

In 1905 he was appointed for the District of Fileck [slow. Fiľakovo] in what was then Upper Hungary (now Slovakia ) in the Hungarian Reichstag in Budapest for the “National Party” also called “Kossuth Party” [ ung. Függetlenségi és Negyvennyolcas Párt]. As a member of parliament, he had two terms. He was also an advisor to the politician Ferenc Kossuth , the only son of Lajos Kossuth.

Jankovics married in Bösing in 1904 . His wife, Agát b. Jamnicky (1880 - 1961) came from Bösing and was of Slovak-Polish origin. The marriage resulted in the son Marcell (1906-1970) and two daughters Agát (1909-1992) and Judith (1911-1971).

After the collapse of the Danube monarchy , he was the author of the petition that spoke out against the annexation of Pressburg to Czecho-Slovakia (and for the city to remain with Hungary) and which was presented to the representatives of the Entente in 1919! Hardly any other eyewitness observed the events of the revolution in Pressburg as meticulously and with such detailed accuracy and recorded them in writing as Jankovics.

After 1919, however, Jankovics stayed in Pressburg, where he continued to work as a lawyer, but was also active as a writer. During this time he published numerous articles in various magazines and several books.

Memorial plaque on the house where Jankovics died (Budapest, Pauler utca 19). The German translation reads: “Since 1939, after moving from Preßburg, Dr. Marcell Jankovics alpinist, lawyer, member of the Reichstag and writer. An important functionary of the cultural life in Slovakia. Erected on the occasion of his 125th birthday and 50th anniversary of his death by his admirers and the Buda district administration "

During the events of the coup d'état of 1918, he did not break, but developed an astonishing inner strength to continue to be active in the field of cultural policy. Politically he was close to the Hungarian Christian Socialist Movement [ung. Magyar Keresztényszocialista Mozgalom]. Between 1925 and 1938 he was chairman of the " Toldy Circle", an institution that campaigned for the strengthening of Hungarian culture and education. In addition, he was chairman of the Hungarian Cultural Association in Slovakia [ung. Szlovenszkói Magyar Kultúregylet].

In 1939 he left Bratislava and moved to Budapest . He spent the last ten years of his life at 19 Pauler Gasse, in the oven [ung. Buda] is located.

Marcell Jankovics died on November 12, 1949 in Budapest and was buried in the "Farkasréti temető" ["Cemetery on Wolfswiese"] in Budapest. The Budapest cemetery administration converted his grave site into a grave of honor, which is a listed building.

The book author and film director Marcell Jankovics d. J. is the grandson of Marcell Jankovics the Elder. Ä.

Journalistic activity

Marcell Jankovics was active as a journalist for almost his entire life. However, all of his publications appeared in Hungarian only.

After 1945, Jankovics's works were listed on the index of banned books and his numerous writings were banned from being published and printed for 60 years. The book “Twenty Years in Preßburg” [original title: “Húsz esztendő Pozsonyban”], now available for the first time in a German edition , was published in its first Hungarian edition in 1939, then it was also included in the index. This book is one of the most important eyewitness accounts of that time and an important document of the times, as Jankovics describes in detail the events of the revolution of 1918/1919 and life in Pressburg until 1939.

literature

Marcell Jankovics: Húsz esztendő Pozsonyban, MÉRY RATIO Sommerein 2000, ISBN 80-88837-34-0 (Hungarian original edition)
Magyar Életrajzi Lexicon, Budapest 1981, vol. 1, p. 799, ISBN 963-05-2498-8 (Hungarian)
Marcell Jankovics: Twenty Years in Peßburg (1919-1939) - German translation (footnotes and explanations) by Anton Klipp, Karlsruhe 2017, ISBN 978-80-8175-029-8

Individual evidence

↑ After the Academia Istropolitana, founded by King Matthias Corvinus (1458 - 1490) in Preßburg in 1465, stopped teaching, there was no university in Pressburg for over 400 years. It was not until 1784 that an academy was founded here again, but it did not acquire university status until the academic year 1874/1875. Here law and political science were taught at university level. In the following years other faculties were added. In 1914, however, this school closed again.

↑ His petition was unsuccessful, as Pressburg was occupied by Czechoslovak legionnaires on New Year's Eve 1918 and was annexed to Czecho-Slovakia against the will of the local population. On March 14, 1919, the central government of Prague (Decree No. Z.1236 / ad) officially renamed the city "Bratislava".
↑ The "Toldy Circle" was an association founded in 1874 with the aim of spreading Magyar literature and culture among the then predominantly German-speaking Pressburg (population numbers of Pressburg in 1880: Germans 31,500, Magyars 7,500, Slovaks 5,500) to propagate and disseminate German-speaking Pressburgers. After the establishment of Č-SR , the activities of the "Toldy District" were very limited until it was completely dissolved in 1945. Marcell Jankovics was the chairman between 1925 and 1939.
↑ ^a ^b The texts published here come from the introduction to the German-language edition of Jankovics's book Twenty Years in Preßburg, which was created by Anton Klipp . (S. XVII ff)

personal data
SURNAME	Jankovics, Marcell the Elder
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Jankovics, Marcell the Elder Ä.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Hungarian lawyer, publicist, member of the Hungarian Parliament and mountaineer
DATE OF BIRTH	November 3, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH	Nemesvid-Gárdospuszta, Schomodei County , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH	November 12, 1949
Place of death	Budapest , Hungary

[1] After the Academia Istropolitana, founded by King Matthias Corvinus (1458 - 1490) in Preßburg in 1465, stopped teaching, there was no university in Pressburg for over 400 years. It was not until 1784 that an academy was founded here again, but it did not acquire university status until the academic year 1874/1875. Here law and political science were taught at university level. In the following years other faculties were added. In 1914, however, this school closed again.

[2] His petition was unsuccessful, as Pressburg was occupied by Czechoslovak legionnaires on New Year's Eve 1918 and was annexed to Czecho-Slovakia against the will of the local population. On March 14, 1919, the central government of Prague (Decree No. Z.1236 / ad) officially renamed the city "Bratislava".

[3] The "Toldy Circle" was an association founded in 1874 with the aim of spreading Magyar literature and culture among the then predominantly German-speaking Pressburg (population numbers of Pressburg in 1880: Germans 31,500, Magyars 7,500, Slovaks 5,500) to propagate and disseminate German-speaking Pressburgers. After the establishment of Č-SR , the activities of the "Toldy District" were very limited until it was completely dissolved in 1945. Marcell Jankovics was the chairman between 1925 and 1939.

[:0-4] The texts published here come from the introduction to the German-language edition of Jankovics's book Twenty Years in Preßburg, which was created by Anton Klipp . (S. XVII ff)