Cenner Mihály: Nizsinszkij Budapesten - Budai séták 1. (Budapest, 1993)
Waclaw Nijinsky was connected to Budapest through his marriage. Sergei Diaghilev’s Russian Ballet Troupe was performing in Budapest in March and December of 1912 and at the beginning of January of 1913. The leading dancer of the Troupe was Nijinsky whose name was already well-known all the world. Romola Pulszky was charmed by Nijinsky’s talent and fame. Romola’s father was Károly Pulszky, well-known in the European history of arts, and her mother - Emilia Márkus - was one of the best Hungarian actresses. Thanks to her connections, Romola was accepted as a student by Enrico Cecchetti, the ballet master of the Troupe, and thus she was able to travel the group. At the time Romola hadn’t met Nijinsky yet. In the early autumn of 1913 the Troupe went on a South-American tour without Diaghilev. Romola and Nijinsky got acquainted on the ship, the dancer asked her to marry him, and they got wed on the 10th of September, 1913. After finishing the tour, the couple travelled to Budapest where Nijinsky was introduced to Romola’s family. Here they got to know that Diaghilev wasn’t going to prolong Nijinsky’s contract. Nijinsky decided to organize his own group. On the 16th of June, 1914 Kyra - their first child - was born in Vienna. After visiting Budapest with child, they intended to visit Nijinsky’s family in Saint-Petersburg. That was where they heard the news about the beginning the First World War. As Nijinsky was a Russian Citizen he was interned to the villa of Emília Márkus. The following spring they moved to Vienna and went on a tour to America again. They finally settled down in Switzerland in 1918. Whereas Nijinsky’s behaviour was getting increasingly strange and peculiar. In 1919 Nijinsky was examined by professor Breuler who found out that he was schizophrenic. His state required hospital cure. This was how he got into Kreuzlingen Sanatorium. On the 14th of June, 1920 Romola and Nijinsky’s second child, Tamara, was born. This was when Nijinsky, his two daughters and their nannies stayed for several months in Emilia Márkus’ villa. 20 years later Nijinsky lived in Budapest again from the summer of 1940, spending his life either in the villa or in the Sanatorium. He died in London, in 1950. Nijinsky in Budapest 45 I
