Page 7 - borsod24

The cultural life of Hungary is extremely rich, and Borsod-
Abaúj-Zemplén County gives one of the largest slices.
Why? Because this region is the cradle of the Hungarian
language, and one of the greatest messengers of culture.
Ferenc Kazinczy, the leader of the language reform, stud-
ied and worked in this region during perhaps the most
important period of his life and work; it was here that a
handful of people decided to build a house for theatricals,
the oldest Bible in Hungarian was printed here, and these
are just a few examples.
20th July 1590. In a small village of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén
County, the printer stopped, and one of the most impor-
tant books of the Hungarian nation was completed. Th is

small village is Vizsoly, where the first complete Hungari-
an-language Bible was born in printed form. It was named

after Gáspár Károlyi, the pastor of Gönc who supervised
the translation, and it has been known to the world as the This is the

Károlyi Bible since then. The printing praised the expertise
of the Polish Bálint Mantskovits. However, the idea of the

translation and the printing was born as a matter of one region…
man’s heart. He was none other than Zsigmond Rákóczi,
the lord of the village at the time, who, with his generous
donations, not only nurtured his family’s love for the Bible,
but also set an example for the generations that followed him

and gifted the Hungarians with the Hungarian version of the
Holy Scriptures. The Hungarian language is synonymous

with being Hungarian, and with our national self-awareness.
11th September 1769. This is the day when Ferenc Ka-

zinczy, as a student of the college in Sárospatak, crossed the

threshold of his alma mater for the first time. It was here that
the young man fell in love with books, reading, the Hungar-
ian language, and last but not least, the county. He did not
turn his back on this region, even later, after his studies. He

became the chief archivist in Zemplén, and he was also the
school inspector of the county schools, while he was busy
writing, translating, founding a newspaper and renewing
the Hungarian language. In 1806, he moved to Bányácska,

which he then named Széphalom. This place became one of
the centres of the reformation and language renewal move-

ment, and Kazinczy himself permanently settled here aft er
his long years in prison. Today, his memory and legacy are
preserved in a mausoleum and in the Museum of Hungar-
ian Language in the village. Anyone who speaks Hungarian
keeps his faith alive.

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