János de Harkányi de Taktaharkány, Baron
Baron János Harkányi (1859-1938) Zemplén County landowner and banker, between 1896 and 1902 a member of the Parliament of the Free Party, between 1913 and 1917 Minister of Commerce. In the 1920s and 1930s, he served as chairman and board member of several companies and joint-stock companies, and became known not only for his extraordinary experience in politics but also for his financial expertise. He was chairman of the Hungarian Sugar Industry Joint Stock Company from 1902 to 1938.
János Harkányi was born into a noble (baron) family in Taktaharkány, Zemplén county, on 6 April 1859. The noble title originated from his paternal grandfather, Fülöp Koppely (1801-1873), a merchant, landowner and director of the Hungarian Central Railway Company, who received a letter of noble title from Franz Joseph in 1867 and changed his name to Harkányi, and also acquired the noble first name of Taktaharkányi. His father was Frigyes Harkányi (1826-1919), a politician and member of the liberal party. Through his political activities he was raised to the rank of baron in 1895. His mother was Baron Zsuzsanna Podmaniczky (1838-1923).
He married his first wife, his first cousin, Baron Maria Harkányi of Taktaharkányi, in 1882, and they had three children, two daughters and a son (the latter Baron Sándor Harkányi, later a gold-arched soldier and landowner). In 1895, after the baroness filed for divorce against her husband, she married Ilona Végh from Verebi, a member of the old noble family of Bezeréd. Their marriage produced a daughter and a son, but she lost the latter, Baron István Harkányi, early in life, as he died a heroic death on the Russian front in the First World War (Galicia, 1916). Despite her divorce and the death of her son, her marriage 'policy' was successful, however, as she became related to the Bezeréd family, also landowners and active in national politics, of noble origin.
As a young man, he studied law in Budapest and Halle, and attended the local business academy in Hohenheim. After graduating, from 1882, he farmed on the family estate of about 11,000 acres. Here he had a stud farm and a racing stable, and grew sugar beet on more than 1 000 acres.
He started his economic activities under the supervision of Baron Zsigmond Kornfeld, President of the Hungarian General Credit Bank. At the same time, between 1896 and 1902, he followed in the political footsteps of his father, Frigyes Harkányi, as a member of parliament for the Free Party, twice winning seats in Facset, Krassó-Szörény County. As he had the opportunity to become president of the Hungarian Sugar Industry Joint Stock Company in 1902, he resigned his second mandate at the same time, citing a conflict of interest. Between 13 July 1913 and 15 June 1917 he was Minister of Trade in the government of István Tisza. During this period, he played an extremely important role in the adoption of various economic regulations which fundamentally determined the Kingdom of Hungary's trade relations during the war. Because of his high office, he was also appointed by Franz Joseph as an internal privy councillor. Although he had first attempted to resign in January 1917, he stayed on at Tisza's request and only went on leave. During this period, János Teleszky, Minister of Finance, was in charge of his duties. After resigning with the Tisza government, he was a member of the General Council until the autumn of 1918.
In the 1920s, it not only maintained its economic position, but was able to expand it. In addition to the chairmanship of the Hungarian Sugar Industry Joint Stock Company, from 1929 the Hungarian General Credit Bank, the Ganz Electricity Joint Stock Company and the Stühmer Sugar Factory Joint Stock Company, he became a member of the board of directors of several other industrial and commercial companies. From 1922 he was co-president of the National Association of Hungarian Agricultural Distillers. In addition, he was vice-president of the Arms and Machinery Company and a member of the board of directors of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company. In the 1920s, he supported the development of the Taktaharkány estate and its surroundings, including the operation of the small railway established by his father in 1894. The little railway connected the family estates with Taktaharkány railway station. Initially horse-drawn, it was modernised with steam locomotives in 1925, and became instrumental in transporting the sugar beet grown on the estate. In the meantime, however, Harkányi had lost its land holdings as a result of the Treaty of Trianon (1920). His large estate in Arad county was auctioned off in 1923 as a result of the Romanian land reform, on the grounds that he had bought it from Archduke Joseph in the autumn of 1918, and that it could therefore be legally interpreted as a Habsburg estate. The Romanian Agrarian Commission did not recognise the purchase on the grounds that it had been carried out during the period of the Hungarian People's Republic (31 October 1918 - 21 March 1919), which was marked by the name of Mihály Károlyi, and was considered illegitimate by the Hungarian government of the time.
In 1926 he was elected a member of the upper house of parliament. In the 1930s he was very ill, and in 1937 he was under treatment for several months. In the autumn of 1938, he was diagnosed with a serious gall bladder disease and was admitted to a sanatorium for convalescence. Although his operation was successful, he never recovered. On 19 November 1938, at the age of 80, he died in Budapest of heart failure. The next day, he was buried in the graveyard of the Harkányi mansion, on the family estate in Újvilágpusztá, on the outskirts of the village of Megyaszó in Zemplén County, next to his wife and son, who died a heroic death in the war. The ceremony was extremely simple, as he had requested, with only Zoltán Tavassy, the new Evangelical pastor of Csanálos, giving the eulogy.
Dr. Tihamér Fabinyi took over a significant part of his positions, including the presidency of the Hungarian General Credit Bank and the Hungarian Sugar Industry Joint Stock Company, and together with the other members of the Board of Directors, he wished to perpetuate Harkányi's memory by establishing a fund to help the bank's employees with several children.
Sources
Ágnes Kenyeres (editor-in-chief): Hungarian Biographical Dictionary. Hungarian Hungarian Heritage.
Press material 1859-1938.
Tolnai's New World Encyclopedia 6. Gőz-Hit. Tolnai Nyomdai Műintézet és Kiadóvállalat Részvénytársaság. Budapest, 1927. 183.
Miklós Vécsey:One Hundred Precious Hungarians. Budapest, 1931. 118-120.
Born: 6 April 1859.
Place of birth: Taktaharkány, Zemplén county
Date of death: 19 November 1938.
Place of death: Budapest
Occupation: landowner, banker, Member of Parliament, Minister of Commerce
Parents: baron Frigyes Harkányi (1826-1919), baron Zsuzsanna Podmaniczky (1838-1923)
Spouses: baron Mária Harkányi of Taktaharkányi, Ilona Végh of Verebi
Children: Harkányi Margit Emilia Sarolta Mária, Harkányi Sándor Albert Frigyes, Harkányi Ilona Mária Sarolta Eleonóra, Harkányi István, Harkányi Erzsébet
Author: Róbert Szabó
Born: 6 April 1859.
Place of birth: Taktaharkány, Zemplén county
Date of death: 19 November 1938.
Place of death: Budapest
Occupation: landowner, banker, Member of Parliament, Minister of Commerce
Parents: baron Frigyes Harkányi (1826-1919), baron Zsuzsanna Podmaniczky (1838-1923)
Spouses: baron Mária Harkányi of Taktaharkányi, Ilona Végh of Verebi
Children: Harkányi Margit Emilia Sarolta Mária, Harkányi Sándor Albert Frigyes, Harkányi Ilona Mária Sarolta Eleonóra, Harkányi István, Harkányi Erzsébet
Author: Róbert Szabó
János de Harkányi de Taktaharkány, Baron
Baron János Harkányi (1859-1938) Zemplén County landowner and banker, between 1896 and 1902 a member of the Parliament of the Free Party, between 1913 and 1917 Minister of Commerce. In the 1920s and 1930s, he served as chairman and board member of several companies and joint-stock companies, and became known not only for his extraordinary experience in politics but also for his financial expertise. He was chairman of the Hungarian Sugar Industry Joint Stock Company from 1902 to 1938.
János Harkányi was born into a noble (baron) family in Taktaharkány, Zemplén county, on 6 April 1859. The noble title originated from his paternal grandfather, Fülöp Koppely (1801-1873), a merchant, landowner and director of the Hungarian Central Railway Company, who received a letter of noble title from Franz Joseph in 1867 and changed his name to Harkányi, and also acquired the noble first name of Taktaharkányi. His father was Frigyes Harkányi (1826-1919), a politician and member of the liberal party. Through his political activities he was raised to the rank of baron in 1895. His mother was Baron Zsuzsanna Podmaniczky (1838-1923).
He married his first wife, his first cousin, Baron Maria Harkányi of Taktaharkányi, in 1882, and they had three children, two daughters and a son (the latter Baron Sándor Harkányi, later a gold-arched soldier and landowner). In 1895, after the baroness filed for divorce against her husband, she married Ilona Végh from Verebi, a member of the old noble family of Bezeréd. Their marriage produced a daughter and a son, but she lost the latter, Baron István Harkányi, early in life, as he died a heroic death on the Russian front in the First World War (Galicia, 1916). Despite her divorce and the death of her son, her marriage 'policy' was successful, however, as she became related to the Bezeréd family, also landowners and active in national politics, of noble origin.
As a young man, he studied law in Budapest and Halle, and attended the local business academy in Hohenheim. After graduating, from 1882, he farmed on the family estate of about 11,000 acres. Here he had a stud farm and a racing stable, and grew sugar beet on more than 1 000 acres.
He started his economic activities under the supervision of Baron Zsigmond Kornfeld, President of the Hungarian General Credit Bank. At the same time, between 1896 and 1902, he followed in the political footsteps of his father, Frigyes Harkányi, as a member of parliament for the Free Party, twice winning seats in Facset, Krassó-Szörény County. As he had the opportunity to become president of the Hungarian Sugar Industry Joint Stock Company in 1902, he resigned his second mandate at the same time, citing a conflict of interest. Between 13 July 1913 and 15 June 1917 he was Minister of Trade in the government of István Tisza. During this period, he played an extremely important role in the adoption of various economic regulations which fundamentally determined the Kingdom of Hungary's trade relations during the war. Because of his high office, he was also appointed by Franz Joseph as an internal privy councillor. Although he had first attempted to resign in January 1917, he stayed on at Tisza's request and only went on leave. During this period, János Teleszky, Minister of Finance, was in charge of his duties. After resigning with the Tisza government, he was a member of the General Council until the autumn of 1918.
In the 1920s, it not only maintained its economic position, but was able to expand it. In addition to the chairmanship of the Hungarian Sugar Industry Joint Stock Company, from 1929 the Hungarian General Credit Bank, the Ganz Electricity Joint Stock Company and the Stühmer Sugar Factory Joint Stock Company, he became a member of the board of directors of several other industrial and commercial companies. From 1922 he was co-president of the National Association of Hungarian Agricultural Distillers. In addition, he was vice-president of the Arms and Machinery Company and a member of the board of directors of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company. In the 1920s, he supported the development of the Taktaharkány estate and its surroundings, including the operation of the small railway established by his father in 1894. The little railway connected the family estates with Taktaharkány railway station. Initially horse-drawn, it was modernised with steam locomotives in 1925, and became instrumental in transporting the sugar beet grown on the estate. In the meantime, however, Harkányi had lost its land holdings as a result of the Treaty of Trianon (1920). His large estate in Arad county was auctioned off in 1923 as a result of the Romanian land reform, on the grounds that he had bought it from Archduke Joseph in the autumn of 1918, and that it could therefore be legally interpreted as a Habsburg estate. The Romanian Agrarian Commission did not recognise the purchase on the grounds that it had been carried out during the period of the Hungarian People's Republic (31 October 1918 - 21 March 1919), which was marked by the name of Mihály Károlyi, and was considered illegitimate by the Hungarian government of the time.
In 1926 he was elected a member of the upper house of parliament. In the 1930s he was very ill, and in 1937 he was under treatment for several months. In the autumn of 1938, he was diagnosed with a serious gall bladder disease and was admitted to a sanatorium for convalescence. Although his operation was successful, he never recovered. On 19 November 1938, at the age of 80, he died in Budapest of heart failure. The next day, he was buried in the graveyard of the Harkányi mansion, on the family estate in Újvilágpusztá, on the outskirts of the village of Megyaszó in Zemplén County, next to his wife and son, who died a heroic death in the war. The ceremony was extremely simple, as he had requested, with only Zoltán Tavassy, the new Evangelical pastor of Csanálos, giving the eulogy.
Dr. Tihamér Fabinyi took over a significant part of his positions, including the presidency of the Hungarian General Credit Bank and the Hungarian Sugar Industry Joint Stock Company, and together with the other members of the Board of Directors, he wished to perpetuate Harkányi's memory by establishing a fund to help the bank's employees with several children.
Sources
Ágnes Kenyeres (editor-in-chief): Hungarian Biographical Dictionary. Hungarian Hungarian Heritage.
Press material 1859-1938.
Tolnai's New World Encyclopedia 6. Gőz-Hit. Tolnai Nyomdai Műintézet és Kiadóvállalat Részvénytársaság. Budapest, 1927. 183.
Miklós Vécsey:One Hundred Precious Hungarians. Budapest, 1931. 118-120.