Magyar News, 1998. szeptember-1999. augusztus (9. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1998-12-01 / 4. szám

I have always wondered about the origin or meaning of my last name "Azary". It wasn't until 1996 that I started taking an interest in finding out about my ancestors and their culture.

I am about 50% Hungarian and the other 50% is a mixture of Italian, Irish, English, and Swedish. What a mix! Even though I was only a small percentage Italian, I knew more about Italian culture, language, and history, than I did of Hungarian (which is my predominant ethnic background).

I never had an interest to learn about Hungary or Hungarian history because none of the public schools I attended ever talked about Hungary in history class, nor do you hear much about Hungary in the news. I was always under the impression that it was a backwards Eastern European country and thought that it's history would not interest me. I realize that I was very wrong!

As indicated previously, I decided to start researching my family history in 1996. The World Wide Web and computers made it a lot easier. I started searching the internet for any information on my last name. I used the search engines such as http://wwwb o.com and http://www.mfoseek.com, to conduct people searches (which searched phone numbers and addresses) and to find any website that mentioned my last name. There were approximately 24 families across the U.S. with the same last name as mine. I sent letters to them, in an attempt to obtain information on the Azary name. I also contacted older living relatives to obtain information about my ancestors. I had used the internet to contact Hungarian or genealogical organizations, to obtain suggestions, information, maps, and even translations of Hungarian or German documents. I ended up meeting some interesting people, including some distant relatives.

I searched most of the genealogical websites to see if they had my last name on their databases, but was unsuccessful. Also, the Mormons (Church of Latter Day Saints) maintain huge genealogical databases, even on non-Monnons. They have film archives of many Hungarian census records, which I obtained from the family history center located at the Mormon Church in New Canaan, CT.

I sent a letter to the National Archives and Records Administration office in Waltham, MA. with a $10 check and I received my grandfather's immigration records. These records indicated that my grandfather was from Regecz, Hungary. Regecz is a small settlement that is in Borsod-Abauj -Zemplén County in the Northeast part of Hungary. It is Northeast of Miskolc and not too far from the Slovakian border. Additionally, the records indicated that my grandfather took the steamship S.S. Berengaria from Cherbourg, France to New York City in

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JOSEPH F. AZARY:

Discovering my family history

1923. A picture of the steamship was attached to the immigration records.

My grandfather, Joseph Michael Azary (1914-1952) was bom on August 14,1914 in Regécz and was baptized in the Greek Catholic Church in Mogyoróska. He immigrated to the United States in 1923 with his parents and siblings.

My great-grandfather. József Azary (1885-1956) was a soldier in World War I. He was called to battle in July 1914 (one month before his son. Joseph Michael Azary, was bom). He spent four years in Russia and returned to Hungary in 1918 to see his son for the first time. Then came to America. After Iris wife, Julianna Homyei, died in 1926, József decided to return to Hungary and live there permanently. His children (including my grandfather) returned to the U.S. to live here. Reportedly, grandfather became a building superintendent in Budapest and some of his buildings were damaged during World War II.

I heard that the New York Public Library (42nd & 5th) had a good genealogical section in their library. 1 was able to review several books on Hungarian heraldry (coat of arms) and Genealogy at the NYPL. which proved very useful. The books mentioned some Azary families that obtained nobility from King Sigismund in 1435 for fighting the Turks. The family later received a coat-of-arms, land, and wealth from King Matthias II in 1609.

To go back any further on my family

history, 1 would have to either go to Hungary or pay a professional to obtain the church records. Using the internek I located a company in Budapest, called Family Tree Genealogical and Research Bureau, which was able to obtain church records for my ancestors and trace them back to the mid 1700's. They provided pictures of the town my grandfather came from, Regécz. They were also able to provide me with old maps showing the settlements where my ancestors lived. The Azary name supposedly started when residents of Kis-azar and Nagy-azar took on last names in the 1300 and 1400's. These towns are now in Slovakia and have been renamed, Male Ozorovce and Velke Ozorovce, respectively. There is speculation that residents of Kis-azar and Nagy-azar took the name Azary or Azari. One thing that I found interesting was that there are many people of middle eastern origin with this name. I found out that Azar is a word found in both Persian and Turkish languages. Azar means “towering” or “elevated” in one Turkish dialect. There is a possibility that this Turkish word was used to describe the mountainous region of north-east Hungary, where Kis-azar and Nagy-azar were located. Historians indicate that the early Magyar tribes intermingled with Avar and Turkic tribes in the 8th century. Was this word the result of early Magyar intermingling with Turkic tribes or the result of Turkish influence, I don't know? But, I will continue to search for this matter.

While I was doing research on my family name, I thought I better start learning more about Hungarian history, to put this all in perspective. From that point on. I probably read Hungarian history books, and many others on Hungarian folklore, Hungarian heroes such as Janos Hunyadi, St. István, Ladislaus, and Arpad, as well as books on Gyspies, origin of the Magyars, the Treaty of Trianoa and interesting characters such as Elizabeth Báthory.

If I had never started researching my family history, I may have lost out on a lot of good knowledge about my ancestors. In fact, I am very proud of my Hungarian ancestory since learning so much about that great country. I would have never known what a large role Hungary played in Europe during the middle ages and long after. I now realize that Hungary protected Western Europe from the wrath of the Turks for many centuries and paid the price by having it's land and population devastated. I also did not realize that Hungary was punished unjustly and harshly after World War I. The Treaty of Trianon devastated Hungary by taking away huge portions of the land and population, which made Hungarians minorities in other countries.

I will certainly make sure that I continue to learn as much as possible about the