A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 53. (2014)

Tanulmányok a Herman Ottó emlékév tiszteletére - Mikita Gábor: Jászai Mari és Herman Ottó kolozsvári románca

Jászai Mari és Herman Ottó kolozsvári románca

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THE LIAS ION OF MARI JÁSZAI AND OTTÓ HERMAN IN KOLOZSVÁR

(Cluj, Romania)

Keywords: Népszínház (Popular theatre), National Theatre of Kolozsvár, National Theatre of Budapest, Transylvanian Hungarian Museum, Magyar Polgár (journal), Vidor Kassai

The story was revealed in the memoirs of the actress, but not many details are known about the juvenile romance of Mari Jászai and polyhistor Ottó Herman in Kolozsvár. The actress destroyed most items of her correspondence and her diaries, making it difficult to learn details about her private life and this romance as well. The Historical Database of the Ottó Herman Museum, however, does have 20 letters written by the actress to Ottó Herman, which allows some insight into their relationship.

Ottó Herman became the academic associate of the Transylvanian National Museum in 1864, and from 1871, was a senior editor of the weekly journal Magyar Polgár, the position allowing him to demonstrate his merits and skills (from versatility to liberal-mindedness).

After two seasons spent in the Népszínház (Budapest), Mari Jászai and her husband signed a contract to Kolozsvár in 1869, where she proved her dramatic qualities at once. She met Ottó Herman, the polyhistor, in the last season of her stay, who wrote, among other topics, about theatre. The sensibility and intelligence of the man was liberating for the woman, and with her devotion, she encouraged the journalist in his everyda}r struggles. The existing marriage of Jászai was a barrier to mainting and deepening their relationship, and also to the plans about the marriage of the new couple. The actress’s husband was Vidor Kassai, a popular comedian, who objected to divorce. In 1872, Mari Jászai became the leader tragic actress of the National Theatre in Budapest, after this year there is no data about their relationship, except a note concerning the returning of the engagement ring that she got from her lover. Letters addressed to her husband reveal that the spouses became reconciled, and were divorced officially as late as 1879. [Translated by Ágnes Drosztmér]

Mikita, Gábor