Hatvany-Deutsch

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HATVANY-DEUTSCH

HATVANY-DEUTSCH , a 19th-century family of Hungarian industrialists and landowners, originally from the province of Arad. In the 20th century members of the family achieved distinction as painters, writers, and patrons of the arts. Its founder was ignac deutsch (1803–1873), who established Hungary's first sugar refinery in the 1820s. Under his sons, bernÁt and jÓzsef (i) deutsch, the business expanded and made an immense contribution to the Hungarian national economy. As a reward the brothers were raised to the nobility in 1879 and authorized to add "de Hatvan" ("Hatvany") to their surname, the town of Hatvan, east to Budapest, having become the center of their industrial operations.

József i's son, sÁndor hatvany-deutsch (1852–1913), was, like his father and grandfather, born in Arad. He continued the development of the family business and founded the Hungarian manufacturers' association, but he was also a noted patron of the arts. He helped to establish various charitable institutions and received a barony in 1908. Sándor's sons gained distinction in Hungarian cultural life. The elder, lajos hatvany (1880–1961), author, literary critic, and journalist, wrote in Hungarian and German. Born in Budapest, he entered the literary life of the Hungarian capital and, as a young man, was a founder of the literary periodical Nyugat. A generous supporter of aspiring writers, he was a prominent champion of Endre Ady (1877–1919), the great Hungarian poet. Among the journals which Lajos Hatvany edited before and during World War i was Pesti Napló ("Pest Journal"). His political outlook was radical and he took an active part in the democratic October Revolution of 1918. At the outbreak of the Communist Revolution of 1919 he went to Vienna, but returned to Budapest in 1927 and gave himself up for trial. He was found guilty of treason and libeling the Hungarian people, and sentenced to a short term in prison. On his release he resumed his writing career, but with the advent of the Hitler regime, he was again forced to leave the country in 1938. He spent World War ii in England and returned to Hungary in 1947. During the 1950s he was condemned to silence, and was only granted recognition after 1959.

Lajos Hatvany's studies and criticisms were thorough. A convinced assimilationist and himself converted, he never ceased to deal with the problem of the Hungarian attitude toward Jews, and of Jewish assimilation and nationalism. His great trilogy, Urak és emberek ("Gentlemen and People," vol. i, 1927; complete, 19632), depicts the history of a Jewish family at the turn of the century and is a clear reflection of his own internal struggle. An English version of the first part appeared in New York as Bondy Jr. (1931). His other works include Die Wissenschaft des Nichtwissenswerten (1908), a satire on philological exaggerations; Die Beruehmten (1913), a drama; Das verwundete Land (1921); Gyulai Pál estéje ("The Sunset of Paul Gyulai," 1911, 19602); and Adycikkek, emlékezések, levelek (19592).

The second son of Sándor was the painter ferenc hatvany (1881–1958). Like his brother Lajos, he was born in Budapest and converted to Christianity. As a student he came under the influence of Adolf *Fényes. He acquired a fine collection of 19th-century French paintings and some of his own nudes and still lifes are displayed in the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts. He settled in Paris about 1947 and died in Lausanne.

The descendants of Ignac Deutsch's other son, Bernát, also attained importance in Hungarian public life and a few of them remained within the Jewish fold. Bernát's son, jÓzsef (ii) hatvany-deutsch (1858–1913), collaborated with his cousin Sándor in the development of the sugar industry, and his banking and other financial interests made him one of the wealthiest Jews in Hungary. Active in Jewish communal affairs, he was a trustee and benefactor of the Budapest rabbinical seminary and a generous supporter of the Hungarian Jewish Literary Society (imit). He also established pioneering welfare and sickness benefit schemes for workers in his factories. In 1908 József ii, like Sándor, was created a baron and became a member of the Hungarian parliament's upper house. He died in Germany. József ii's children were the author lili hatvany (1890–1967), the political writer antonia hatvany-deutsch (b. 1894), and the industrialist and writer bertalan hatvany (1900–1980). Born in Budapest, Bertalan was a successful businessman, and a patron of literature, one of the writers whom he supported being the great Hungarian poet, Attila József (1905–1937). An active Zionist and a generous contributor to the movement, he held views similar to those of the *Berit Shalom on the problem of peace between Jews and Arabs. Bertalan Hatvany left Hungary in 1939, spent some time in Australia, and then settled in Paris. His early travels are reflected in books such as Ázsia és a nacionalizmus ("Asia and Nationalism," 1931); Ázsia lelke ("The Soul of Asia," 1935, which includes much of Jewish interest, including impressions of Ereẓ Israel); Konfuciustól Nehemiásig ("From Confucius to Nehemiah," 1936); A kínai kérdés története ("History of the Chinese Question," 1938); and Az út és az ige könyve ("The Book of the Way and the World," a translation of Tao-te Ching, 1957).

bibliography:

B. Kempelen, Magyarországi zsidó és zsidó eredetü családok, 2 (1938), 61–64; A. Szerb, Magyar irodalomtörténet (1943); Magyar Zsidó Lexikon (1929), s.v.; Magyar Irodalmi Lexikon, 1 (1963), s.v.; uje, 5 (1941), 249–50.

[Baruch Yaron]