Fraternity-Testvériség, 1963 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1963-04-01 / 4. szám

FRATERNITY

5

ALFONZ LENGYEL:

THE LIFE AND ART

OF

ALEXANDER FINTA HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN SCULPTOR

Chapter I

EARLY YEARS

Alexander Finta was born June 12, 1881, in Turkeve (Hungary). The story goes that he was fast asleep when he was taken to be christened and that his father woke him, gently, because he wanted his son to be alert when anything happened around him. As the boy grew up, his father developed in him a deep curiosity and Finta passed through life with his eyes wide open. He was never satisfied with mere facts, but sought always their cause and effect.1

When he was about two years old, it was rumored that a comet would appear over the village. His father put him on his shoulders and joined the crowd waiting to see the spectacle. In this atmosphere of expectation, the boy suddenly cried out: “Papa, look! I see the comet!” Much to the amusement of the villagers, he was pointing at a drunken shepherd riding into town on a donkey. His father, much embarrassed at the boy’s “stupidity”, took him home immediately. That the story was often repeated around the village hurt his exaggerated pride in his son and for months he could barely look at him.1 2

1 Mrs. Catherine Finta, personal interview, Los Angeles, Calif., December 26, 1958. Permission to quote secured.

2 Ibid.