Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
SPIRIT AND MOOD - Famous Teachers
FAMOUS TEACHERS no FROM THE ENLIGHTEMENT TO THE END OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE Tivadar Duka (1825-1908) served as a lieutenant during the War of Independence of 1848-49; between 1854 and 1874, he served as a medical doctor with the rank of major in the British Indian Army. He was the author of the first authoritative monograph on Sándor Körösi Csorna. He was a student in Sárospatak Among the members of the teaching staff of the College, it was the professors who naturally were the most educated and the most renown. Beneath we sketch the portraits of those who have left a defining mark on the life of the College. The professor occupying the theological chair in the last third of the 18th century was Gábor Őri Fülep. Born in 1739 as the son of a pastor, he studied in his native Sajószentpéter and then in Sárospatak and Miskolc. His interest in the German language also led him to spend time in both Lőcse and Dobsina. His peregrinations were truly valuable and productive, having studied in Franeker, Groningen, Utrecht and for a longer time in Leyden. In fact, he received his doctorate in Utrecht although the emperor forbade him to assume this title in Hungary. During his stay in the Netherlands he worked as a corrector on the Hungarian Bible which was printed in Utrecht but he also made it to Oxford, London and the imperial library in Vienna. It was after six long years of studying abroad that he returned home and worked initially as a chaplain alongside his father and later as a pastor in Aszaló. He was invited to Sárospatak as professor of theology in 1772. During his twenty-five years of teaching he wrote numerous textbooks and directed the College as rector-professor for eight years. He was the first to teach pastoral theology in Patak. He was nearly sixty years old when he left the College after having been appointed superintendent of the church district. As a bishop, he moved into the vacant manse in Sajószentpéter and here, in his father’s former congregation, he served until his death in 1823. This highly educated and respected professor, who was not only a teacher who published often but also a leader in both the institution and the church, had a significant influence on the intellectual and financial evolution of the College. He was an adherent of the theological Enlightenment and he wrote many books of church history (ie. the General Assembly of Buda and he translated a history of the Jesuits); he translated Latin, French, German and English textbooks and he published commentaries on the Old Testament. “Őri Fülep is to be acknowledged in having laid by means of his theology and moral convictions the solid foundation for the Reform Era which focused on forming the nation in the beginning of the 19th century”- as recognized by Sándor Koncz. János Patay had a significantly smaller role in the life of the College but it is worth mentioning him because of the colorful life he led. He worked in Sárospatak for four years only and left in 1811. He started in 1807 as an instructor in theology and in his final year he was also accorded the position of teacher of natural sciences. In his person the College gained a professor who had accomplished much and had had extensive experience abroad. After his years in Rimaszombat, Losonc and Patak, he set off for a long peregrination. He visited the Mineral Academy in Selmecbánya, the universities of Pest and Vienna and then visited all the important German and Dutch universities. After four years abroad, he returned home. At first, he worked as a pastor in Losonc and then in Jánosi. He moved to Patak in 1807 where he was appointed to one of the positions reserved for professors of theology. Patay himself serves as a good example of the challenge faced by the College in retaining for longer term a well-travelled, highly-educated professor with extensive international connections who, on the basis of his correspondence and submitted proposals furthermore appeared
