Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 2000 (17. évfolyam, 58-61. szám)

2000 / 58-61. szám

what today is south-central Slovakia. Since the Middle Ages Germans had known this place as Karpfen, the Hungarians as Korpona, and the Slovaks as Krupina, which became its official name when the region was awarded to the Czechoslovak Republic after World War I. Perhaps appropriately, the young Ferenc had a keen aptitude for learning languages. As student he specialized in Slavic languages and cultures. He completed his education at the University of Szeged. He excelled in his studies, as well as in music and sports. He was granted his doctorate in 1940. Subsequently he taught high-school in Szeged and in Budapest. In the wake of World War II he entered the services of Hungary's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Slavic specialist. From 1946 to 1948 he headed the Hungarian consulate in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (before World War I, known as Pozsony or Pressburg). In 1948, when the communists consolidated their power, Ferenc and his wife, Irén, left Eastern Europe. They arrived in New York early in 1949. There Ferenc shared the fate of many newly-arrived DP (displaced person) intellectuals, and for a while made his living through manual work. But finally he was offered a position with the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. This was of particular importance to someone who loved books, research and writing. He retired in 1981 after 29 years of government service. During the next decade he continued to work furiously, producing one book after another. In some of these he collaborated with his daughter, Christina Maria Teresa Wagner (Mrs. R.H. Starley), a former White House staff member.

From the Hungarian point of view, Dr. Wagner's most important work was probably his Hungarian Contributions to World Civilization (Center Square, Penna.: Alpha Publications, 1977). Professor Steven Béla Várdy has described this book as a "lexicon of Hungarian achievements in the natural sciences, physical sciences, biological sciences, social sciences, economics, business, arts, music, politics, and sports."

The 1990s were not kind to Ferenc Wagner and his wife. In 1990 Irén was left paralyzed after a mishandled operation. Disturbed by his wife's misfortune, he stopped writing. Then came his own prolonged illness. Ferenc died in mid-April, 1999. The accomplishments of this remarkable community activist and prolific author will be sorely missed by all Hungarian and Central European specialists.

N.F. Dreisziger

Americans Worth Remembering (Continued)

World War II undermined the unification process. The war changed the atmosphere as the United States and Hungary were pushed into opposing camps within this cataclysmic struggle.

Who was Barnabás Dienes? Who was this leader who would attempt the impossible? His role as the first President of the Hungarian Reformed churches governed by the Magyar Synod indicates that his fellow church leaders recognized his organizational ability, power of intellect, and commitment to Hungarian interests at all times. But his preparation for this role can be traced back to pre-World War I Hungary. He was born in Debrecen, the "Calvinist Rome,” in 1895. His father was the director of the Tisza (River) Regulating Company and formerly a judge. Barna inherited his sense of justice from him. For his formal education Barna attended and graduated from the famous College of Debrecen. He then continued his studies at the University of Budapest, intent on becoming a teacher of the Hungarian and French languages. However, World War I intervened and he could only take his examinations after the end of the war, after a number

Obituaries (Continued)

Following the war he moved to Budapest as a teacher, but during the peace-negotiations he was hired as a French translator by the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Shortly thereafter in 1920 he married Ilona Révész, the daughter of Mihály Révész, the minister of Nagybajom, thereby becoming part of two old Reformed pastoral families, the Révész and the Harsányi families. But the political despair and economic misery of the 1920's combined with the personal tragedy of losing their first child, convinced him to emigrate with his wife to the United States.

The Dienes family first settled in New York City where Barna became the leader of community work for the Hungarian Church on 116th Street in Manhattan. From there he went to Bloomfield, N) to receive his pastoral diploma and then his B.D. While he was continuing his studies, he was in the service of the Caldwell, NJ congregation. From there he was called to the mining town of Himlerville, Kentucky-West Virginia, to organize a Hungarian church. However, the Hungarian mining enterprise was not successful and its members scattered in all directions. Barna Dienes also had to look for another place to find church service. Next he went to Brownsville where he served for three years. Then in 1929 he was called by Hungarian Calvinists to Homestead, PA to be their pastor. The church at Homestead was already one of the strongest, but under the leadership of Barna Dienes it became an active center of religious and cultural life. Under Barna’s direction it freed itself from a debt of twelve thousand dollars, whilst the community also spent a lot of money on investments and repairs. The men's Sick Benefit Society improved its financial position nicely, and their loan association functioned efficiently. The church community's inner social cultural life also progressed considerably: three choirs, two boy scout troops, three groups of Christian Endeavor, a working women's association, a Young Women's Circle, a beautiful Sunday school, a Saturday school, a summer school - all were signs of the never failing zeal and untiring industry of their pastor. Furthermore, the vicinity of Pittsburgh provided a favorable setting to continue his education: he acquired an M.A. at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. He also became increasingly involved in the national affairs of American Hungarian Protestant life where he was an important leader pushing for organizational unity. For years he became a contributor and later a co-editor of the Amerikai Magyar Reformátusok Lapja (Hungarian American Reformed Paper). His lectures delivered in Pittsburgh from 1931 on were well known and his literary activity was carried on in both English and in Hungarian. His English language writings were well received amongst American-born people.

Although World War II had killed efforts to unify the fragmented church life of American Hungarian Calvinists, it simply led to a reorientation of Barna Dienes' work. He became more and more involved in education, in Hungarian Studies, and in Charitable work and assistance to Hungarian refugees who had been displaced by the war.

Barna Dienes did not limit his work to the church life of the American Hungarian Calvinists, but was also busy in other Hungarian areas. The largest association of the American Hungarians, the Verhovay Sickbenefit Association of forty thousand members passed a resolution at its directors meeting, that the youth born and raised in the United States must be better acquainted with the national history, literature and culture of Hungary. With this aim they launched courses throughout the country. They asked Barna Dienes to lead the first of these courses. He enjoyed speaking to young people about the thousand years' history of the Hungarian people, of the heroic past, of the sea of suffering they had endured. He explained to them with

(Continued on page 5)

of miserable years as a prisoner of war.

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NO. 58-61, WINTER/SPRING/SUMMER/AUTUMN 2000, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER