Czeglédi Imre: Munkácsy ősei és rokonsága (A Békés Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 31. (Békéscsaba, 2007)
Czeglédi Imre: Munkácsy ősei és rokonsága Imre CZEGLÉDI Ancestors and relatives of Mihály Munkácsy Résumé Mihály Munkácsy /Lieb/ was one of the greatest personality of the Hungarian painting in the XIX 1 ' 1 century, and undoubtedly he was the most succesfull master concerning international regards. His life is like, as if came to us from our childhood's world of fairyland. His father was a wealthy salt business - treasury official, but he lost his parents at his age of 8, and the five Leib-orphans were adopted by the brothers and sisters of their mother, by the Reök uncles and aunts. At his age of 11 Michael (Mihály) was sent by his foster father to learn as joiner's apprentice in Békéscsaba. After four years he was released from his apprenticeship and he was working as workman's mate in Arad, but after one and half year he was getting ill, he returned home to his uncle who was living already in the county seat in Gyula at that time. Here he was favoured by fortune. He met in the town Elek Szamossy itinerant painterartist, who discovered his talent, employed him and introduced him into the first secrets of the painting, than he sent him into the capital of the country providing him a recommendatory letter. Than he was studying abroad /Wien, München, Düsseldorf/, in 1870 he won a gold medal at the Paris Salon exhibition. He settled in Paris in 1872. He became a succesful painter-artist: his art-dealer contracted all his paintings for the coming ten years. After two years, in 1874 - the former joiner's apprentice - married the widow of a French baron, his Parisian palace was built up, and from that time Paris and his wife's castle in Luxembourg became the scene of his life and work. The history of art has few data about the origin and ancestors of Munkácsy. Only his father is known on his father's side, sometimes unfounded assumptions are emerging in the literature from further ancestors. His mother and some of her brothers/sisters are known on his mother's side. On his mother's side, the knowledge is focused on a few data. Just a few data are available about the brothers of Munkácsy and also about their fate. A family chronicle was published also twice at the turn of the century, that describes from 1639 till 1784 through five generations the family events of the Lieb family, originating from Bavaria. The family lived mainly in Bártfa (at present Bardejov - Slovakia), also the manuscript is kept in the Bártfa Archives, thus the manuscript is known as „Bártfa Lieb-codex" in the special literature about Munkácsy. The publisher of the codex assumed that the latest registered György János József LIEB - was born in Bártfa - „could have been" the grandfather of Munkácsy. The data timely corresponds to the date of birth, as the father of Munkácsy was born 30 years later, in 1800. But the publisher of the manuscript had no other written evidence besides the assumption. The speciality of the Lieb-codex is, that one of the family's member- lived in Berlin - had left his meaningful fortune to a foundation, and the family's member going to an artist career were rightful to the interest of this foundation. If the family of Munkácsy would have known about this foundation, Mike could have started free from care a painters career, and he should not had to learn joinery, he should not had to suffer as mentioned. This bad luck was considered by the family and also by the art historians for hundred years. 115
