Magyar News, 1992. szeptember-1993. augusztus (3. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1993-07-01 / 11-12. szám
KÁROLYI GÁSPÁR Lay ing on the eastern slope of the Hemád valley is a small town called Vizsoly. Not every Hungarian knows this, but they sure know the name because the first Hungarian Bible was called Károlyi Biblia after the translator or it was called Vizsolyi Biblia by the name of the town where it was printed. I was trying to get some information on this town that played a significant part in the modem development of the Hungarian language, so I looked up a Hungarian encyclopedia published in Budapest in 1968. Tomyamazement the word Vizsoly was not in it, not as a town nor as a Bible. They must have known about the place because first in 1940 then in 1952with state money researchers found significant wall paintings in the church from the XIV and IV centuries and restored them. Well so much for the Hungarian heritage. About Gáspár Károlyi? Well there are a few words, favorable words, about him. Unfortunately there is very little known about his earlier years. He was born around 1529 in Nagykároly and his name was Károlyi Radies Gáspár. His fatherprobably moved to the northern part of Hungary a few years earlier from the south that was threatened by the forward moving Turks. In the records of the school in Brassó, the first Protestant school in Transylvania, we find the name Gasparus Karoly. After graduation there are a few years unaccounted for. Probably he was teaching at some smaller school in the area till he enrolled in 1556 at the famous university of Wittenberg. His tuition seems to have been paid by the brother of István Dobó, Domonkos Dobó. Later on during the siege of Szatmar by the Turks we find Domonkos Dobó and Gáspár Károlyi together defending the fortress. Besides having the opportunity to study at Wittenberg, he made friends with many Hungarian scholars. Among them was András Mágócsy, his patron to be. After his Wittenberg studies, Károlyi settled in Gönz. In 1572 he rebuilt the destroyed church and had a new bell made. Here, he had a big house and led a lifestyle of a well-to-do-person. His vineyards in the area made it possible to have a comfortable income. It doesn’t seem that he came from a noble landowner family. His seal showed a chalice and his initials GRK. This seal was more likely a religious symbol. We know very little about his private life. We don’t even know the name of his first wife. The second was Anna. They had four children but during the plague three of them and Anna died. Later in his life he married again and fathered one more daughter. In the last few years of his life his patrons and friends died one after the other. Káról yi was put to rest in the last days of the year 1591. Károlyi left us a book that he wrote in 1563 and the first full Bible in Hungarian. The Hungarian people will always cherish his memory because he brought the printed Hungarian language into the home of the Hungarian people. Károlyi left behind an everlasting monument. (C.M.B.) WATER WITH A NATION’S NAME hungary water HungaryWater, (l’eau de la Reine d'Hongrie) - the earliest known alcoholic perfume - was made famous by an aged Hungarian Queen in the 14th Century. Her original recipe (obtained from a hermit to achieve eternal youth) was made from Rosemary and proof spirit left to stand for four days. But later the Queen had it prepared to a more complex formula: "To a gallon of grafe spirit add two ounces of otto of Rosemary, one ounce each of otto of balm and lemon feel a half dracm of otto of mint and two pints of rose water'. According to Beckman’s “History of Inventions’’, the queen of Huneary was so rejuvenated by her use of the water, that in her ~6th year she had a marriage proposal from the king of ( Poland and her beauty was famed throughout Europe. No wonder that Hungary Water soon became the most sought after toilet water in that continent. It was used to wash and tone the face, as a hair rinse, as a rub for feet and legs, in the bath water and on handkerchiefs. Anne of Cleeves is said to have worn a chaplet of Rosemary around her head when she married Henrv VIII; for Rosemary was said to revive the body and refresh the mind. No plant has a lovelier name, translated it means “dew of the sea’’ (Ros marinus). It was introduced into England by Queen Phillipa, beautiful wife of Edward III about the year 1330. HOC GEXDERS Author of “Perfume through the Ages”. It is an experience to walk into a Crabtree Evelyn store. The dense concentration of scents and aromas fill not only your nostrils but your mind too. It is like twilight zone. You are not sure if what you see is reality or imagination. This is the way I felt when I was holding a box in my hand. The label said that the content was “Hungary Water.” Since I just finished having an English muffin, I didn’t respond immediately in a responsive manner. I sniffed the bottle, hoping that the smell will bring back some Hungarian experience. After a few pinches on my sensitive skin, I gave in and accepted that there is such a thing as Hungary Water. In the copy that comes in the package you may learn everything, and that includes everything I know. (h.h) 3 1
