Henrik Lévay de Kistelek, Baron
Henrik Lévay was born in 1826 in Jánoshalma, Bács county. One of the most important insurance specialists of his time. He played an important role in the foundation of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company and was its CEO for forty years. He was involved in the founding and management of several insurance companies, banks and steam mills, and is the founder of several cultural, scientific and charitable foundations. For his work in economics, he was first made a nobleman with the title of nobility of Kistelek in 1868, then a baron in 1897 and became a member of the House of Lords.
His life
Henrik Lévay was born on 16 April 1826 in Jankovác, Bács County - today Jánoshalma, Bács-Kiskun County, in a poor Jewish family. He was educated first locally and then at the commercial school of Gyula Bibanco in Pest. During the 1848-49 Revolution and War of Independence, he served as a soldier in a hunting battalion, where he was promoted to lieutenant. In 1850 he moved to Pest, where he married Rosa Sárkány on 5 September 1852. They had no children. For his zealous and fruitful work in the field of economics, he received the title of nobility with the first name of Kistelek in 1868, and then the title of baron in 1897, and became a member of the House of Lords. In 1886, Henrik Lévay conferred the nobility on his four children's brother István Lévay and his descendants, and after his death in 1905, the title of baron was conferred on them. After his retirement in 1898, Henrik Lévay lived in seclusion on his estate in Táplány, Győr County, and died in Budapest on 15 December 1901 after a long illness. His memorial is located in Táplánypusztá (today part of Töltésfalva, Győr-Moson-Sopron County).
Professional activity
After finishing his studies, Henrik Lévay started working in Szeged as an employee of a well-known trading company. Through his connections in Szeged, he joined the Adriatic Insurance Company (Riunione Adriatica di Sicurta) in Pest in 1850, probably with the help of the Szeged-born general manager Ferenc Bernát Weisz. He worked there as a claims adjuster until 1855, when he had to leave the insurance company because of an abuse during a claims survey.
In July 1857 he took an active part in the foundation of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company (EMÁBIT). Later, in no small part due to Lévay's propaganda in this direction, the plan and execution of the founding of the company was also attributed to him. After its creation, he was entrusted with the organisation of the network of agents and the payment of the subscribed shares. He carried these out so successfully that, when operations commenced in March 1858, he was given the title of interim managing director and the opportunity to attend board meetings - in a consultative capacity. He was later made permanent as General Manager and became a full member of the Board of Directors. Between 1858 and 1897 he ran the First Hungarian for forty years, with great success.
In 1883, he celebrated the quarter-century anniversary of the founding of EMÁBIT as one of the country's most respected insurance professionals and company directors. To mark the occasion, the company had Gyula Benczúr paint a picture entitled The Founding of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company. Henrik Lévay gave the artist detailed instructions for the composition. The founding members of the company are very different from the real ones, with Ferenc Deák, who played a minimal role in the life of the company and its foundation, and Henrik Lévay, who was not mentioned in the first press releases about the foundation, being the two focal points of the picture. Lévay received the picture as a "surprise" from the board of directors at the jubilee celebrations and it was on display in the boardroom of the society's Vígadó Square headquarters until its demolition in 1944.
As a result of EMÁBIT's extraordinary success, Henrik Lévay was also involved in the establishment and management of several subsidiaries. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Pannonia Vissversicherungsanstalt from 1864 to 1898, of Wiener Versicherungsosító from 1887 to 1898, and of Wiener Leben und Járadékversicherungsosító from 1887 to 1898. He was involved in the foundation of the Hungarian Land Credit Institute and was a member of the board of directors of the First Pesti Home Savings Bank, one of the most important financial institutions in the country, from 1865 to 1869. He was involved in the founding of the Concordia in 1866 and the Elizabeth Steam Mills in 1868, and was also one of Pest's largest taxpayers as a tenant farmer.
With no children of his own, he also supported his brother's family as CEO. His two older nephews are also among the officials of the EMÁBIT group. For a few years in the early 1890s, József Lévay was head of the Hungarian head office of the two Vienna subsidiaries and a member of the board of directors of the National Accident Insurance Company, founded in 1893. He was not able to hold these positions after Henrik Lévay retired. Lajos Lévay, immediately after his studies, joined EMÁBIT as secretary, from 1891 as general secretary, and from 1894-1895 appears in the sources as the chief officer of EMÁBIT. He may also have changed careers sometime around the time of his uncle's retirement, as he was head of the Emigration Department of the Ministry of the Interior between 1903 and 1909.
Public activities
Henrik Lévay appeared in public life primarily in his role as a patron and supporter. He has supported many national scientific, cultural and charitable initiatives, both from his insurance company and from his private wealth.
Among his scientific donations, the most important were the support of the new headquarters of the Hungarian Society of Scientists and the establishment of the Lévay Fund of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which was used to support scientific work mainly in the field of economics.
He supported the Hungarian Writers' Aid Society, the newspaper writers' pension fund, the Győr County officials' aid fund, and was a founder and main sponsor of the Fine Arts Society and many other associations.
He actively supported the commemoration of the 1848-1849 revolution and freedom struggle. He was the chief sponsor and treasurer of the committee that erected the Petőfi statue on the Danube in Budapest, but he also built a statue of György Klapka and the Arad Memorial Museum.
His writings and publications
Lévay has published little, neither in general public and economic journals nor in insurance journals. His three most important works were written towards the end of his career.
Some words on the remedy of our economic ills (Budapest, 1895)
Opinion on the method of establishing an agricultural credit institution (Budapest, 1895)
The insurance business in our country (Budapest, 1896)
In memory of
The chapel of the Lévay family is located in Táplánypuszta, part of Töltésfalva in Győr-Moson-Sopron county.
Besides the grave monument in N táplánypuszta, there is only one statue of Lévay, which was erected in the centre of Győrújbarát in 2012. The erection of the bust of the elderly Lévay was supported by CIG Pannónia EMABIT Zrt., which considers itself as the spiritual heritage of the former EMÁBIT and Henrik Lévay.
Sources
EMÁBIT (Ormody Vilmos) 1908: Jubilee album of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company: 1857-1907. Budapest.
Gyula Horváth - Gábor Tamás 2017: 160 years of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company. Insurance and Risk. (4.) 2. 102-104.
Veronika Juhász 2007: Baron Henrik Lévay, founder of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company. Your Doctor's Weekly (148.) 52. 2492-2493.
Béla Kempelen 1913: Hungarian noble families. Volume 6. Khár - Lyukáts. Budapest.
Géza Muzsay 2007: the First Hungarian General Insurance Company was founded 150 years ago. Insurance review. (53.) 8. 3-25.
No name 1898: Baron Henrik Lévay Sunday Newspaper (44.) 18. 285.
János Pompéry 1883: To mark the quarter-century anniversary of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company. Budapest
Adolf Strausz 1901: Baron Henrik Lévay Country World 1053.
József Szinnyei 1906: The life and work of Hungarian writers. Budapest.
Gábor Tamás 2019: Managerial dominance? Organizational evolution and career paths of officials in an insurance company. Kövér György - Pogány Ágnes - Weisz Boglárka (eds.): Domain - Company. Hungarian Economic History Yearbook 2019. (3.) 287-324.
Péter Újvári (ed.) 1929: Hungarian Jewish lexicon. Hungarian Hungarian Jewish History.
Born: 16 April 1826.
Place of birth: Jankovác (Bács county, now Jánoshalma)
Date of death: 15 December 1901.
Place of death: Budapest
Occupation: CEO of an insurance company
Parents: János Lévay (Löwi) (1793, Jánoshalma - 1862, Szeged), Mária Herczel (1799, Kistelek - 1858, Szeged)
Married: Róza Sárkány (28 August 1836 - ???) 5 September 1852.
Children:
Author: by Gábor Tamás
Born: 16 April 1826.
Place of birth: Jankovác (Bács county, now Jánoshalma)
Date of death: 15 December 1901.
Place of death: Budapest
Occupation: CEO of an insurance company
Parents: János Lévay (Löwi) (1793, Jánoshalma - 1862, Szeged), Mária Herczel (1799, Kistelek - 1858, Szeged)
Married: Róza Sárkány (28 August 1836 - ???) 5 September 1852.
Children:
Author: by Gábor Tamás
Henrik Lévay de Kistelek, Baron
Henrik Lévay was born in 1826 in Jánoshalma, Bács county. One of the most important insurance specialists of his time. He played an important role in the foundation of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company and was its CEO for forty years. He was involved in the founding and management of several insurance companies, banks and steam mills, and is the founder of several cultural, scientific and charitable foundations. For his work in economics, he was first made a nobleman with the title of nobility of Kistelek in 1868, then a baron in 1897 and became a member of the House of Lords.
His life
Henrik Lévay was born on 16 April 1826 in Jankovác, Bács County - today Jánoshalma, Bács-Kiskun County, in a poor Jewish family. He was educated first locally and then at the commercial school of Gyula Bibanco in Pest. During the 1848-49 Revolution and War of Independence, he served as a soldier in a hunting battalion, where he was promoted to lieutenant. In 1850 he moved to Pest, where he married Rosa Sárkány on 5 September 1852. They had no children. For his zealous and fruitful work in the field of economics, he received the title of nobility with the first name of Kistelek in 1868, and then the title of baron in 1897, and became a member of the House of Lords. In 1886, Henrik Lévay conferred the nobility on his four children's brother István Lévay and his descendants, and after his death in 1905, the title of baron was conferred on them. After his retirement in 1898, Henrik Lévay lived in seclusion on his estate in Táplány, Győr County, and died in Budapest on 15 December 1901 after a long illness. His memorial is located in Táplánypusztá (today part of Töltésfalva, Győr-Moson-Sopron County).
Professional activity
After finishing his studies, Henrik Lévay started working in Szeged as an employee of a well-known trading company. Through his connections in Szeged, he joined the Adriatic Insurance Company (Riunione Adriatica di Sicurta) in Pest in 1850, probably with the help of the Szeged-born general manager Ferenc Bernát Weisz. He worked there as a claims adjuster until 1855, when he had to leave the insurance company because of an abuse during a claims survey.
In July 1857 he took an active part in the foundation of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company (EMÁBIT). Later, in no small part due to Lévay's propaganda in this direction, the plan and execution of the founding of the company was also attributed to him. After its creation, he was entrusted with the organisation of the network of agents and the payment of the subscribed shares. He carried these out so successfully that, when operations commenced in March 1858, he was given the title of interim managing director and the opportunity to attend board meetings - in a consultative capacity. He was later made permanent as General Manager and became a full member of the Board of Directors. Between 1858 and 1897 he ran the First Hungarian for forty years, with great success.
In 1883, he celebrated the quarter-century anniversary of the founding of EMÁBIT as one of the country's most respected insurance professionals and company directors. To mark the occasion, the company had Gyula Benczúr paint a picture entitled The Founding of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company. Henrik Lévay gave the artist detailed instructions for the composition. The founding members of the company are very different from the real ones, with Ferenc Deák, who played a minimal role in the life of the company and its foundation, and Henrik Lévay, who was not mentioned in the first press releases about the foundation, being the two focal points of the picture. Lévay received the picture as a "surprise" from the board of directors at the jubilee celebrations and it was on display in the boardroom of the society's Vígadó Square headquarters until its demolition in 1944.
As a result of EMÁBIT's extraordinary success, Henrik Lévay was also involved in the establishment and management of several subsidiaries. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Pannonia Vissversicherungsanstalt from 1864 to 1898, of Wiener Versicherungsosító from 1887 to 1898, and of Wiener Leben und Járadékversicherungsosító from 1887 to 1898. He was involved in the foundation of the Hungarian Land Credit Institute and was a member of the board of directors of the First Pesti Home Savings Bank, one of the most important financial institutions in the country, from 1865 to 1869. He was involved in the founding of the Concordia in 1866 and the Elizabeth Steam Mills in 1868, and was also one of Pest's largest taxpayers as a tenant farmer.
With no children of his own, he also supported his brother's family as CEO. His two older nephews are also among the officials of the EMÁBIT group. For a few years in the early 1890s, József Lévay was head of the Hungarian head office of the two Vienna subsidiaries and a member of the board of directors of the National Accident Insurance Company, founded in 1893. He was not able to hold these positions after Henrik Lévay retired. Lajos Lévay, immediately after his studies, joined EMÁBIT as secretary, from 1891 as general secretary, and from 1894-1895 appears in the sources as the chief officer of EMÁBIT. He may also have changed careers sometime around the time of his uncle's retirement, as he was head of the Emigration Department of the Ministry of the Interior between 1903 and 1909.
Public activities
Henrik Lévay appeared in public life primarily in his role as a patron and supporter. He has supported many national scientific, cultural and charitable initiatives, both from his insurance company and from his private wealth.
Among his scientific donations, the most important were the support of the new headquarters of the Hungarian Society of Scientists and the establishment of the Lévay Fund of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which was used to support scientific work mainly in the field of economics.
He supported the Hungarian Writers' Aid Society, the newspaper writers' pension fund, the Győr County officials' aid fund, and was a founder and main sponsor of the Fine Arts Society and many other associations.
He actively supported the commemoration of the 1848-1849 revolution and freedom struggle. He was the chief sponsor and treasurer of the committee that erected the Petőfi statue on the Danube in Budapest, but he also built a statue of György Klapka and the Arad Memorial Museum.
His writings and publications
Lévay has published little, neither in general public and economic journals nor in insurance journals. His three most important works were written towards the end of his career.
Some words on the remedy of our economic ills (Budapest, 1895)
Opinion on the method of establishing an agricultural credit institution (Budapest, 1895)
The insurance business in our country (Budapest, 1896)
In memory of
The chapel of the Lévay family is located in Táplánypuszta, part of Töltésfalva in Győr-Moson-Sopron county.
Besides the grave monument in N táplánypuszta, there is only one statue of Lévay, which was erected in the centre of Győrújbarát in 2012. The erection of the bust of the elderly Lévay was supported by CIG Pannónia EMABIT Zrt., which considers itself as the spiritual heritage of the former EMÁBIT and Henrik Lévay.
Sources
EMÁBIT (Ormody Vilmos) 1908: Jubilee album of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company: 1857-1907. Budapest.
Gyula Horváth - Gábor Tamás 2017: 160 years of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company. Insurance and Risk. (4.) 2. 102-104.
Veronika Juhász 2007: Baron Henrik Lévay, founder of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company. Your Doctor's Weekly (148.) 52. 2492-2493.
Béla Kempelen 1913: Hungarian noble families. Volume 6. Khár - Lyukáts. Budapest.
Géza Muzsay 2007: the First Hungarian General Insurance Company was founded 150 years ago. Insurance review. (53.) 8. 3-25.
No name 1898: Baron Henrik Lévay Sunday Newspaper (44.) 18. 285.
János Pompéry 1883: To mark the quarter-century anniversary of the First Hungarian General Insurance Company. Budapest
Adolf Strausz 1901: Baron Henrik Lévay Country World 1053.
József Szinnyei 1906: The life and work of Hungarian writers. Budapest.
Gábor Tamás 2019: Managerial dominance? Organizational evolution and career paths of officials in an insurance company. Kövér György - Pogány Ágnes - Weisz Boglárka (eds.): Domain - Company. Hungarian Economic History Yearbook 2019. (3.) 287-324.
Péter Újvári (ed.) 1929: Hungarian Jewish lexicon. Hungarian Hungarian Jewish History.