Berecz Mátyás - Rémiás Tibor (szerk.): Végvár társadalma a korszakváltás idején - Studia Agriensia 30. (Eger, 2012)
TÓTH FERENC: Egy várépítő magyar emigráns Törökországban: François de Tott
Ferenc Tóth A FORTRESS BUILDER HUNGARIAN ÉMIGRÉ IN TURKEY: FRANÇOIS DE TOTT Despite the sometime success in his memoir the life of François baron de Tott, alias Baron Ferenc Tóth has always been a mystery in the modem history of diplomacy. His father, András Tóth, was forced to immigrate to France after the fall of the Rákóczi freedom fight. François de Tott was bom in the 17th of august 1733 in Chamigny near La Ferté sous Jouarre in France. Merely nine years old in 1742 he joined the Bercsényi Hussar Regiment as an ensign. The young Hussar officer, due to his promising skills, was sent alongside his father to Constantinople by the French government to study the Turkish language and the customs of the country. The Constantinople Interpreter School (école des jeunes de langue) had been functioning since 1669 and many French interpreter dynasties and orientalises had leamt the language here. The young de Tott was also preparing here to join the footsteps of his father and to serve the interests of Hungarian emigrants in France and Turkey. These years of education fiindamentally determined the later career of the young diplomat. After his apprenticeship he returned to France in 1763 where he wanted to establish himself as a diplomat. The great opportunity came in 1767 when he was sent to the Crimea to prepare the Russian-Turkish conflict. He successfully accomplished his mission and took part in the 1768-69 campaign of the Tatar Khan. Then he went to Constantinople where he was honoured for organising the defences. After heroically defending the Dardanelles from the attack of admiral Orlov, Tott was assigned to modernise the Osman artillery. He organised a rapid firing legion based on the French example (the so-called szüratcsik). The building that housed the cannon foundry he established is still there in Istanbul. Then he was commissioned to strengthen the defences of Bosphorus, which he successfully accomplished. The fortresses which he erected were thoroughly examined by a French military mission in the mid 1780s. At the end of this study, showing the results of the examination above we can get deep insight into the fortress building work of the French baron Tóth who was of Hungarian origin. 152
