Magyar News, 2003. szeptember-2004. augusztus (14. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2004-01-01 / 5. szám
Kittenberger in the editorial office of the Nimrod magazine me his souvenir of this event. So there it was, the “to your health” and the brandy went down. Kittenberger unbuttoned his shirt, took it off and turned around. Almost as wide as his back, like trenches in his skin, as the the lion’s claws tore their way from the neck all the way down his back. So after I was able to catch my breath, I told him that next time he should start telling the story with first showing his back. Well, who was Kálmán Kittenberger? He was born in Léva, north of Esztergom, in 1884. He graduated as a teacher. First he became a freelance assistant in the taxidermist department at the Hungarian National Museum, and tried to continue studies at the collage. Unfortunately he had to find a job that gives him an income he could live on. Kittenberger then turned to teaching. Being an avid hunter his choice was a town in northern Transylvania, on the slopes of a mountain, a place that offered plenty possibilities for hunting. He just about started teaching when in a few months he received the good news; the National Museum offered him a year salary to accompany a landowner who was going to Eastern Africa to hunt. In a short time the landlord returned to the warmth and comfort of the home. Fortunately he left his equipment with Kittenberger. This made it possible to continue doing the hunting he loved so much. From 1903 till 1912 he covered the Kilimandjaro, Abessinia, Lake Victoria and Uganda. Though the National Museum wasn’t paying him after the first year, he sent the museum a collection of over 60,000species. World War One was a great surprise. This Hungarian hunter in Africa, Kálmán Kittenberger, was considered “dangerous enemy” to the English, therefore arrested. He became a prisoner of war and was held in India till the end of the war. They confiscated his collection, equipment, all written material describing wild life, unknown species, researches, - everything. And all this got lost for ever. He returned to Hungary in 1919, circumstances were bad, he had a hard time to settle down. First he couldn’t get a job. Finally in a year he became the editor of the hunter’s periodical, the NIMROD. A family in Nagymaros offered him a house that belonged to Ödön Kovács. Kovács, a zoologist during an exploration along the Blue Nile, died there in 1916. Later Kittenberger married the sister of Kovács. Five years later Kittenberger went back to Africa. In the following years he was able to supply the National Museum with big games. He just never stopped. Besides editing the Nimrod he wrote books and worked on his research. He found hundreds of new species, many were named after him. Despite being a big game hunter, he collected 26,000 insects, and also had a sizable collection of birds. An other disaster happened in 1956 when a fire in the museum damaged some of his collections. Kittenberger never stopped showing his interest in Africa, and the wild life. During the communist regime western newspapers and periodicals were practically not existing. In the publishing house, were our scientific magazine had its editorial office, we had a resource library. Part of this was a strictly controlled western section. But for our work we had access to scientific publications. This didn’t mean that we were allowed to do whatever we wanted. If we took out a magazine we had to keep it in the office. If we went out for lunch then we had to lock it up in the safe. To take it home overnight was a severe criminal act. Kittenberger loved to read the National Geographic Magazine. He used to come from Nagymaros to visit me and sat for hours at a time in my office. He was just happy to read the magazine. Unfortunately there was never enough time, and also he was up in age. So I offered him a solution; every month he will come and I will give him a magazine and he will bring it back in a reasonable time. If I happen to be around Nagymaros then I will make an exchange. It worked out very well. Now the question is: how come the magazine didn’t have to be in the safe? A friend gave me some very old copies because he noticed that one of the photographers of the magazine was Rudolf Balogh. My friend figured that he might be a relative of mine. Rudolf Balogh was a very good photographer, but he wasn’t a relative. These copies I received were the one sitting in the safe substituting for the copies Kittenberger was reading at home. Every time I met Kittenberger Kálmán the first thing that crossed my mind were the marks of the lion claws across his back. We all hope that Roy will be able to recuperate from his confrontation with the tiger, just like Kálmán Kittenberger did. Joseph F. Balogh APEX RENT-A-CAR BUDAPEST HUNGARY NEW CARS LOW PRICES! 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