Technikatörténeti szemle 18. (1990-1991)

TANULMÁNYOK - Trudeau, Terence: The Work and Life of John Csonka

In 1896, the "Mihenar Exhibition" was held in Budapest, celebrating 1000 years of continuous existence of the Hungarian State in Central Europe. Csonka demonstrated his love for locomotives by building a miniature model that towed the train which ferried visitors around the exhibition grounds. In a similar vein, he built small scale models of celebrated machines and equipment for educational purposes. These examples of virtuoso craftsmanship are on permanent exhibit in the hahways of the Technical University in Budapest. In 1917 Csonka established a company which manufactured the first automobile and airplane radiators in Hungary. In 1925, at the age of 73, he, together with his two youngest sons, started a machine shop which soon grew into an industrial plant, called the John Csonka Machine Works, Inc. (Csonka János Gépgyára, R. T.). It produced air-cooled, water-cooled, two-stroke and four-stroke gasoline engines and electrical power generators. Following the Second World War, the company was "nationalized" by the state. Under the name "Small Engine and Machine Works" (Kismotor és Gépgyár), this prosperous company represents an important component in Hungary's industrial base today. It is worth recalling that this entire organization developed from the original smah shop, in which ah work was based on four machine tools, not bought, but hand built by John Csonka and his two sons, using gauges, and highly accurate calibration methods ah developed and constructed by themselves. Csonka participated in the day-to-day operation of this company during the last 15 years of his life. He supervised ah work, gave his advice freely, and enjoyed teaching his employees how to realize the best possible product. As a result, the quality of work put out by the company was legendary. Many of his original employees later became well known technical experts themselves, yet continued to remember Csonka, then former employer and teacher, with respect and gratitude. J. Csonka loved his work. During 48 years of service at the Technical University in Budapest, he took only one ten-day vacation. But he traveled to every technical exhibition held in Paris, this was one way in which he kept up with new ideas everywhere in the world. In addition, he spent many days criss-crossing his country as a consultant on all problems related to steam or gasoline engines. In 1923 a Chamber of Engineers was established in Hungary, exclusively for engineers with university degrees. The Chamber greatly honored Csonka by granting him membership by invitation, under the "genius" clause contained in the constitutional rules of this organization. Csonka was the first person ever to be so admitted. When John Csonka was 87 years old, his company received an order for very light electrical power generators each combined with a 50 ccm four stroke engine, to be delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces. Csonka prepared all the designs. The generators were to be portable in a knapsack. Later his company buUt these devices and they were operated as expected. But Csonka did not live to see his success. After a brief two week illness, he died in 1939. As we contemplate the life of this remarkable man, his achievements are self-evident. But they appear to be even more impressive if we keep in mind that he lived not in one of the rich countries or sprawling em-