Sándor Csekonics de Zomboly, Count
Count Sándor Csekonics (1872-1951), landowner, royal cupbearer, imperial and royal chamberlain, director and later president of the South Hungarian (Nagybecskerek - Velici Beckerek) Sugar Factory Joint Stock Company. He studied law in Budapest, then worked as a politician and lived off the income and interests of his large estates. After his father's death in 1929, he managed and administered the family estates, which had been reduced in size by the Trianon Peace Treaty, but had to give them up in the 1930s and 1940s, mainly due to external circumstances. He spent the end of the Second World War and the years of socialism in poverty and hiding. He was deported in 1951 and buried in an unmarked grave after his murder.
Count Sándor Csekonics was born on 25 August 1872 in Zsombolya, the first son of Count Endre Csekonics, Royal Master of the Chief Table, hereditary member of the Hungarian House of Lords, and Baroness Konstancia Cziráky. As the first-born son, he was the heir to the estate of Zsombolya.
He completed his studies in Budapest. In the 1888-1889 academic year he passed his school-leaving examination at the Piarist College of the Budapest Teachers' College. Afterwards he studied law at the University of Budapest, where he received his law degree (gold diploma in law in 1943). Afterwards he served his volunteer year in the 9th Hussar Regiment, where he served as a reserve officer (reserve lieutenant), and then entered politics.
Sándor Csekonics married Margarita Vay in 1898, as a lieutenant of the Hussars. Their wedding took place in Bratislava on 13 October 1898, attended by almost the entire Hungarian aristocracy of the time. During the years of dualism, he served as an imperial and royal chamberlain, and as a member of the main dynasty between 1905 and 1918. In 1902 he received the dignity of chamberlain from Franz Joseph.
In 1891 the Csekonics family increased their holdings: they extended the manor of Zsombolya with the Roggendorf manor in the area of today's Udvarnok. Sándor Csekonics lived in this area with his family until the outbreak of the First World War. Here, the count practised what was then considered strange habits, such as communicating only in French with his wife and only in German with his dogs. It was after the First World War that the Count's family's situation changed, as he lost part of the family estate after the First World War, under the terms of the Treaty of Trianon. At that time, most of the family moved to Trianon Hungary and took some of their belongings with them. Thanks to the peace treaty, the family estate was down to 500-600 acres from the previous 40,000, most of it having been divided up by the Yugoslav government among the farmers of the area. It was only a small consolation for Sándor Csekonics that his father, Endre Csekonics, left him the management of his most valuable property. In the meantime, the family had also sold the castle on the Roggendorf estate.
Sándor Csekonics took great care to save and reclaim the manor of Zsombolya between the two world wars. For the loss of part of the land in Yugoslavian territory, Sándor Csekonics went to the Hague to litigate, and although he won the case, he never received the millions of euros in reparations. During this period, the Count lived in the Julian Majority, part of the former estate, which belonged to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and later to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. However, the estate's extent steadily decreased: the inner castle on the estate of Jombolya was purchased by the Romanian state. The fate of Csitó Castle became even more miserable: after it was not bought from the count, Sándor Tseconic first sold three-quarters of the 60-acre park belonging to the castle, and then, in 1937, had his untended palace demolished and the building materials sold. The circumstances of the sale include the fact that in 1923, Tseconchonich renounced his rights as a diocese, and transferred the care of the clergy and the maintenance of the buildings to the churches of Sombolya, German Chernye, Magyar Chernye and Csősztelek. However, the estate remained under a prohibition on sale, which was not lifted even in 1925. The only result Tseconets was able to achieve in the case was that the properties belonging to the Kingdom of Romania were exempted from expropriation. Another problem with Zsombolya was who was going to buy it after the ban was lifted, given that it was on the border and was not an attractive location for anyone because of its uncertain status. The Count himself left Zsombolya after the estate settlements, and after 1942 he did not return there, but lived with his family on the Enying estate, which he had bought from Count József Draskovich in 1895, until 1945.
During his stay abroad, he was the subject of several conflicts with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and later with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia: in this context, he was once even accused of assassination, but it was later proved to be a hoax. On another occasion, Alexander Tseconchenko was unable to attend the wedding of Princess Eugénie Odescalchi and her cousin Béla Lipthay because he did not dare to leave his estate. Later, he was unable to attend the christening of the same couple's children because he had not been granted permission to leave the country for Hungary.
At the end of the Second World War, the count lost the rest of his family's estates. He had to hand over part of them to the German invaders, who also built a castle for a German general in Juliamayor. Enying's estates fell into foreign hands after the 1945 land reform, and after losing them he was housed in the suite of his former gamekeeper. At the same time, he had to resign from his post as chairman of the South Hungarian (from 1920 Nagybecskerek) Sugar Factory Joint Stock Company, which he had headed first as director from 1910 and then as chairman from 1918. He spent the rest of his life in squalor: first he moved into the house of a local bailiff, then a peasant, and finally he found shelter with a retired railwayman near the railway station. But the Rákosi regime, like a pillar of the old regime, did not let him rest: in 1952 he was taken away by car by armed men and after his murder his body was buried in an unmarked grave.
Sources
Yearbooks of the Hungarian Parliamentary Almanac
Directory of the officers of Hungary 1873-1944.
Szilágyi Mária: Csekonics heritage. The built heritage of the family's manor in Zsombolya. Székesfehérvár, 2016.
Born: 25 August 1872.
Place of birth: Zsombolya (Timis county)
Date of death: 1952.
Place of death: Enying (Fejér megye)
Occupation: landowner and royal cupbearer, member and notary of the House of Lords, imperial and royal chamberlain, director and president of the South Hungarian (Veliki Bečkerek) Sugar Factory Joint Stock Company
Parents: count Endre Csekonics of Zsombolya and Janova (1846-1929), Konstancia Cziráky (1847-1922)
Spouses: Margit Vay (1876-1941)
Children: count Erzsébet Csekonics (1900-1974), count Endre Csekonics (1901-1983)
Author: Róbert Szabó
Born: 25 August 1872.
Place of birth: Zsombolya (Timis county)
Date of death: 1952.
Place of death: Enying (Fejér megye)
Occupation: landowner and royal cupbearer, member and notary of the House of Lords, imperial and royal chamberlain, director and president of the South Hungarian (Veliki Bečkerek) Sugar Factory Joint Stock Company
Parents: count Endre Csekonics of Zsombolya and Janova (1846-1929), Konstancia Cziráky (1847-1922)
Spouses: Margit Vay (1876-1941)
Children: count Erzsébet Csekonics (1900-1974), count Endre Csekonics (1901-1983)
Author: Róbert Szabó
Sándor Csekonics de Zomboly, Count
Count Sándor Csekonics (1872-1951), landowner, royal cupbearer, imperial and royal chamberlain, director and later president of the South Hungarian (Nagybecskerek - Velici Beckerek) Sugar Factory Joint Stock Company. He studied law in Budapest, then worked as a politician and lived off the income and interests of his large estates. After his father's death in 1929, he managed and administered the family estates, which had been reduced in size by the Trianon Peace Treaty, but had to give them up in the 1930s and 1940s, mainly due to external circumstances. He spent the end of the Second World War and the years of socialism in poverty and hiding. He was deported in 1951 and buried in an unmarked grave after his murder.
Count Sándor Csekonics was born on 25 August 1872 in Zsombolya, the first son of Count Endre Csekonics, Royal Master of the Chief Table, hereditary member of the Hungarian House of Lords, and Baroness Konstancia Cziráky. As the first-born son, he was the heir to the estate of Zsombolya.
He completed his studies in Budapest. In the 1888-1889 academic year he passed his school-leaving examination at the Piarist College of the Budapest Teachers' College. Afterwards he studied law at the University of Budapest, where he received his law degree (gold diploma in law in 1943). Afterwards he served his volunteer year in the 9th Hussar Regiment, where he served as a reserve officer (reserve lieutenant), and then entered politics.
Sándor Csekonics married Margarita Vay in 1898, as a lieutenant of the Hussars. Their wedding took place in Bratislava on 13 October 1898, attended by almost the entire Hungarian aristocracy of the time. During the years of dualism, he served as an imperial and royal chamberlain, and as a member of the main dynasty between 1905 and 1918. In 1902 he received the dignity of chamberlain from Franz Joseph.
In 1891 the Csekonics family increased their holdings: they extended the manor of Zsombolya with the Roggendorf manor in the area of today's Udvarnok. Sándor Csekonics lived in this area with his family until the outbreak of the First World War. Here, the count practised what was then considered strange habits, such as communicating only in French with his wife and only in German with his dogs. It was after the First World War that the Count's family's situation changed, as he lost part of the family estate after the First World War, under the terms of the Treaty of Trianon. At that time, most of the family moved to Trianon Hungary and took some of their belongings with them. Thanks to the peace treaty, the family estate was down to 500-600 acres from the previous 40,000, most of it having been divided up by the Yugoslav government among the farmers of the area. It was only a small consolation for Sándor Csekonics that his father, Endre Csekonics, left him the management of his most valuable property. In the meantime, the family had also sold the castle on the Roggendorf estate.
Sándor Csekonics took great care to save and reclaim the manor of Zsombolya between the two world wars. For the loss of part of the land in Yugoslavian territory, Sándor Csekonics went to the Hague to litigate, and although he won the case, he never received the millions of euros in reparations. During this period, the Count lived in the Julian Majority, part of the former estate, which belonged to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and later to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. However, the estate's extent steadily decreased: the inner castle on the estate of Jombolya was purchased by the Romanian state. The fate of Csitó Castle became even more miserable: after it was not bought from the count, Sándor Tseconic first sold three-quarters of the 60-acre park belonging to the castle, and then, in 1937, had his untended palace demolished and the building materials sold. The circumstances of the sale include the fact that in 1923, Tseconchonich renounced his rights as a diocese, and transferred the care of the clergy and the maintenance of the buildings to the churches of Sombolya, German Chernye, Magyar Chernye and Csősztelek. However, the estate remained under a prohibition on sale, which was not lifted even in 1925. The only result Tseconets was able to achieve in the case was that the properties belonging to the Kingdom of Romania were exempted from expropriation. Another problem with Zsombolya was who was going to buy it after the ban was lifted, given that it was on the border and was not an attractive location for anyone because of its uncertain status. The Count himself left Zsombolya after the estate settlements, and after 1942 he did not return there, but lived with his family on the Enying estate, which he had bought from Count József Draskovich in 1895, until 1945.
During his stay abroad, he was the subject of several conflicts with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and later with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia: in this context, he was once even accused of assassination, but it was later proved to be a hoax. On another occasion, Alexander Tseconchenko was unable to attend the wedding of Princess Eugénie Odescalchi and her cousin Béla Lipthay because he did not dare to leave his estate. Later, he was unable to attend the christening of the same couple's children because he had not been granted permission to leave the country for Hungary.
At the end of the Second World War, the count lost the rest of his family's estates. He had to hand over part of them to the German invaders, who also built a castle for a German general in Juliamayor. Enying's estates fell into foreign hands after the 1945 land reform, and after losing them he was housed in the suite of his former gamekeeper. At the same time, he had to resign from his post as chairman of the South Hungarian (from 1920 Nagybecskerek) Sugar Factory Joint Stock Company, which he had headed first as director from 1910 and then as chairman from 1918. He spent the rest of his life in squalor: first he moved into the house of a local bailiff, then a peasant, and finally he found shelter with a retired railwayman near the railway station. But the Rákosi regime, like a pillar of the old regime, did not let him rest: in 1952 he was taken away by car by armed men and after his murder his body was buried in an unmarked grave.
Sources
Yearbooks of the Hungarian Parliamentary Almanac
Directory of the officers of Hungary 1873-1944.
Szilágyi Mária: Csekonics heritage. The built heritage of the family's manor in Zsombolya. Székesfehérvár, 2016.