Saturday, May 26, 2018

HUNTING ACROSS THE DANUBE : MAGYAR AMERICAN BOOK REVIEW



author: Peter Lewis Horn


First, I admit that I have not read this book word for word as I usually do, that I scanned it looking for locations I'd know from a map or genealogy search.  I am not a hunter.  If I had to kill an animal myself in order to eat I'd probably do so in the insanity of starvation. Then I would feel myself to be an animal as well. But I'm no radical vegan. I'm convinced my personal body needs meat due to a foray into food-combining vegetarianism that left me protein starved. I say this because those of you who are hunters - of wild boar, wolf, pheasant, stag, roebuck, mountain bear, and the CAPERCAILLE OFTHECARPATHIANS (What's that?!) - those of you who go after the few beast who've managed to live to an enormous old age - those of you into Couples Hunts, Ladies Hunts, THE KING'S SHOOT - who perhaps hunt in places where killing for sport is seen as a necessary culling of the limited wilderness - Those of you who go to Romania, Hungary and Transylvania, Lake Balaton - WILL GET INTO THIS BOOK!


It has blow by blow accounts of mud, rain, the obstacles of climbing and tracking, what takes cunning, as well as photo ops with dead animals and trophy racks.

Hint: Sheepherders will rat out a bear.

It's not my scene but maybe you'll want to read this book to self discover if it's yours.


C 2018  All Rights Reserved   Magyar-American BlogSpot.

Saturday, May 19, 2018

FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP IS THE MORE APPROACHABLE ONE

When the Trumps first became President of the United States and First Lady, I believe it was our President who said that the Kennedy White House - JFK and Jackie - would be role models.  I found that interesting and as Jackie prioritized her children and so has Melania I get it.  I feel for Melania at this point for so very many reasons but she has finally made children her focus as a special effort during her First Ladyhood.  And if I had to meet this couple socially or for any reason, I would find Melania the more approachable one because I think she is actually the more genuine one.

But does the JFK Whit eHouse inspiration include a promiscuous cheating President?

I feel for her because she is married to a President whose tenure in office seems questionable mostly because so very many heads have rolled.  I would not want to chance working for such a person or in such a situation and I fear accepting work from him is basically asking for career ruination.  I feel the instability of staff not only makes getting work done difficult but gives other countries the impression we are a weak country.

Yet Trump fans have told me I am wrong.  I am told that China understand a mogul with multiple wives and families, that China gets trump.  I am told that his behavior overall and threats of military might have scared North Korea and so now they'll stop the nuclear testing and get with some world peace.  I am also told that Trump really isn't a womanizer and Melania is sure of his love for him; this one I debate.

Just airing some thoughts amidst my research on the old nobility of the developing country of Hungary....



Saturday, May 12, 2018

ADATBAZISUKONLINE from HUNGARY - NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY GENEALOGY DATABASES

ADATBAZISUK DATABASE LINK - NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY


I wish I could say that there's a translator for the actual documents embedded in the site, but for now you can go to the categories in five different languages including English as linked above.


I've added this to my GENEALOGY RESEARCH LINKS ON THE SIDEBAR

Saturday, May 5, 2018

HUNGARIAN SURNAMES and GIVEN NAMES and JEWISHNESS : GENEALOGY

I was researching a woman noble named Judit Thuranszky de Turik et Komjathna and some other historical persons who are probably linked in some way to this area and who I have reason to think may have been Jewish, at least hundreds of years ago.  Perhaps it's that I once spent hundreds of hours reading 200 years plus of one particular Catholic church records of marriages and found one person - a man who was the town pharmacist - who was listed as Jewish.  Perhaps it's because I know that in Hungary people who were living on the land of a noble who became Lutheran or Reformed  or Evangelical, or some other religion, tended to feel the pressure to follow there - and back during the Counter Reformation.  Perhaps it's because that the Moslem Ottoman empire was in place for so long in the territory that is Hungary that basically, I think of Hungary as a place where there has been a lot of religious upheaval. Or that as a genealogist I'm often hearing "Jewish Rumors" that someone's grandparent said that was the family's roots.  Or that DNA tests showed this was so.  Or that the Hungarians were Nazis or that they were actually more tolerant of having Jewish people in the country.  Or was that only along the grape growing and wine trade regions? Maybe even the "Jewish Rumors" that are always around about Princess William of Wales a.k.a Kate Middleton makes me wonder just how many generations of living as Christians does a family have to be to prove otherwise.


When it comes to finding genealogy archival documents, basically from the late 1700's Catholic churches in smaller towns and villages were keeping the records of marriages both "mixed" and of non parishioners because there was no mandate for civil registrations.  This was practical because sometimes the priest at the church was one of the few who could read and write and also because so many people lived in wooden structures in villages and on estates but it was only the church or the residences of wealthy people who were made of stone that might better withstand a fire. In the larger cities where there were separate structures for the Reformed church, the Catholic church, and the Jewish Synagogue, records were kept individually - at least after that structure was built.  Still, I have frequently checked these even when not expecting someone to be on them, just in case.


In all the records I have read, the name Judit is fairly rare, and to me a "giveaway" that the person in Jewish.  So I found an attempt to address this question by someone named Kinga Frojimovics on the JewishGen site.  To me her sampling seems limited and this is originally from 2003 but it's probably still worth the read. This article gives the dates for surname adoption.
JEWISH GEN - KINGA FROJIMOVICS - JEWISH NAMING CUSTOMS HUNGARY


As a comparison, when I do American genealogy I sometimes come across families in which "Old Testament" names have been given to the children but I find them going to the Baptist or another church and I don't find them buried in Jewish graveyards.  There are many names that are "Old Testament" that have been popular for Americans at different time periods: consider the names Sharon and Deborah for instance. But in Hungary you can encounter naming patterns that are far less about the parents just liking the name, and more about honoring the birth order among the common villagers, or ancestors with nobles being given multiple names at baptisms that seem to be less ordinary.


As for surnames and titles, I think things get more mysterious for us 21st century researchers who are trying to understand how different people lived and thought way back when, as well as make our way through those charters and other manuscripts that mention important families, even when on our knees in thanks when we find one that is very legible and neatly written though in Old Hungarian; to some extent we take the word of the translator.


One article I read said that Turanism was the name given to those who were sure that Hungarians had Asian roots.  Well, was this family the Turanszke's especially devoted to that belief?  Was this perhaps because they themselves knew that their ancestors came from Asia?


Anyone wishing to give an opinion?