It was the site of a victorious battle by the Honvéd army units against the Habsburg forces. – B: 1064, 1031, T: 7456. Vác, Bishopric and Chapter of



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Várkonyi, Nándor (Ferdinand) (Pécs, 19 May 1896 - Pécs, 11 March 1975) – Librarian, cultural and literary historian. From 1914 to 1916 he was enrolled in Cultural History, Antiquity and Oriental Studies at the University of Budapest, and also obtained a Dip. Ed. in Education, majoring in Hungarian and French Literature. In 1916 he was enlisted in the army and in 1917, 80% disabled, he was discharged. By 1921 he had lost his hearing completely and had to relinquish his teaching career. In 1922 he moved back to Pécs, where, from 1924 until his retirement in 1956, he worked at the university library: from 1948 as Section Had and, in 1950 and 1951, as Acting Director. He was engaged in book-classification, reference and information work. In 1933, he was made an honorary lecturer (privat-dozent) in the Arts Department. After his retirement, he organized the Library of the Janus Pannonius Museum, and prepared the basic catalogue of the Library of the Medical University in Pécs. He played an important role in the organization of the literary life of the town of Pécs. He took part in the launching and editing of the University’s journal, Symposion; he was also the founder and secretary of the Janus Pannonius Society, and the editor of its journal, Our Fate (Sorsunk), in which the poems of such well-known authors as Győző (Victor) Csorba, Weöres, Sándor¸ Kodolányi, János; Sándor (Alexander) Weöres and István (Stephen) Simon first appeared. One of his first important works, Modern Hungarian Literature 1880-1920 (A modern magyar irodalom 1880–1920), published in 1929, stirred up quite a storm. Várkonyi wrote a number of literary historical studies, among them Paul Claudel (1926); Emile Verhaeren (1939) and János (John) Kodolányi (1941). In his volume Intellects, Conceptions (Elmék, Eszmék) (1937) he treated the works of the great writers of Hungarian and world literature. He was also engaged in historic studies of the town of Pécs, and about the life in the western part of Hungary, the so-called Transdanubia, mainly in his work, entitled Hungarian Transdanubia (Magyar Dunántúl) (1944). He was the one who traced the only authentic portrait of the great poet Sándor (Alexander) Petőfi, which appeared in Portrait of Petőfi (Petőfi arca) (1940). His best-known and controversial work is Columns of Siriat (Sziriat oszlopai) (1942), in which he tried to reconstruct the past of mankind on the basis of myths (its revised version appeared in 1972). His other works include The French Mentality (A francia szellem) (1925); The Poetry of Transdanubia (A dunántúli költészet) (1940); The Peasant in Hungarian Literature (A paraszt a magyar irodalomban) (1942), and Transdanubia (Dunántúl) (1975). Between the two world wars, together with Béla Hamvas and János Kodolányi, they created one of the great spiritual triads in Hungary. – B: 0883, 1257, T: 7456.→Janus Pannonius; Petőfi, Sándor; Weöres, Sándor; Simon, István; Hamvas, Béla; Kodolányi, János.
Várkonyi, Zoltán (Budapest, 13 May 1912 - Budapest, 10 April 1979) – Actor, theater and film manager, theater director and translator of literary works. He began translating poems in his school years, and published them in papers and journals. Of his translations Molière’s works stand out: The Imaginary Invalid (Le malade imaginaire, Képzelt beteg); The Versailles
Impromptu (L'Impromptu de Versailles – A Versailles-i rögtömzés), and The Doctor in Spite of Himself (Le Médecin malgré lui – Doktorrá avatás). He began his studies at the Academy of Dramatic Art, Budapest, in 1931, and obtained his diploma in 1934, after which he entered into a contract with the National Theater (Nemzeti Színház), Budapest; in May 1941, he was discharged. From August 1941, he played at the Madách Theater (Madách Színház) with great success. In 1945 he founded the Artists’ Theater (Művész Színház) as a private theater, and it was then that his activity as theater manager and directing began. In 1949, the Theater was closed down. From 1949 to 1951, he was a member of the National Theater of Budapest and, from 1951 to 1953 he was manager of the People’s Army Theater (Néphadsereg Színháza). In 1953 he rejoined the National Theater. In 1962 he became stage manager of the Comedy Theater (Vígszínház), later its Director. From 1945, he taught at the Academy of Dramatic and Cinematic Art, Budapest and, from 1974 until his death, he was its Rector. In addition to his theatrical work, he directed 19 successful feature films. Várkonyi was an outstanding figure of theatrical art of the second half of the twentieth century, with his unparalleled energy, as an artist, actor and manager of many different genres; he was the builder of a theater, a film-scenarist and an educator of actors. He was a member of the Association-Directorate of the International Film Colleges (Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinéma et de Télévision – CILECT). An exhibition was organized, entitled “Zoltán Várkonyi the Actor” in January 1986, and the Hungarian Television presented a memorial program in its Studio ’85. His roles included title role in Shakespeare’s Hamlet; Dauphin in G.B. Shaw’s Saint Joan; Higgins in Shaw’s Pygmalion, and Möbius in F. Dürrenmatt’s The Physicists. His managerial works included Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (A makrancos hölgy); Romeo and Juliet; All’s Well that Ends Well (Minden jó, ha a véged jó), and Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment (Bűn és bűnhödés). His film roles included Bitter Truth (Keserű igazság) (1956), Sons of the Stone-hearted Man, i, ii (A kőszívű ember fiai, I-II (1965), and The Stars of Eger, aka Eclipse of the Crescent Moon i,ii (Egri csillagok I-II) (1968). His bust was erected in the Comedy Theater; a relief keeps his memory in the Academy of Dramatic and Cinematic Art, and a memorial plaque cherishes his memory on the wall of the one-time Artist Theater in Budapest. His statue stands in front of the László Ranódy Synchron Studio (1985). He was awarded the Kossuth Prize (1953, 1956) and was given the awards of Meritorious Artist and of Outstanding Artist; he was also honored with the Pro Arte Prize (1974). – T: 0883, 1445, T: 7456.
Varnus, Xavér (Budapest, 29 April 1964 - ) – Organ virtuoso and writer. He went to school in Kőbánya, an outer suburb of Budapest, and studied piano at the College of Music in the same suburb, where he also began playing the organ at the local Reformed Church. To further his studies, he learned organ at the Ferenc (Franz) Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest, under Melinda Kistétény and Gábor (Gabriel) Lehotka and, subsequently, he became a student of the organist of Notre-Dame, Pierre Cochereau, in Paris; finally, he trained under Professor Lorenz Stolzenbach of the Leipzig Conservatory. In 1981 he settled in France and finally emigrated to Canada, where he obtained Canadian citizenship in 1984. Varnus became a well-known organist in Toronto. He studied at several universities and attended lectures in medieval literature and history of the poet György (George) Faludy. During the 1990s, for four years, he worked as the director of the Organ Festival of Zalaegerszeg in County Zala. In 1977 he went on a concert tour, having already had over three thousand concerts to his credit, drawing large audiences everywhere: in England and France, and in the Synagogue of Budapest. He is also a recording artist. He made a CD, playing on the organ of the Hall of Fine Arts, Budapest, earning the platinum leaf four times in one year. His CD-recording From Bach to Star Wars (Sony BMG, 2008) yielded a gold leaf in the month of its publication. In 2007 appeared his disk, entitled From Ravel to Vangelis, featuring works such as Ravel’s Bolero, pieces from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, and also Oxygene and Equinoxe by Jean-Michel Jarre; Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, and the piece 1492 by Vangelis. His first book, entitled God will Forgive: that is His trade (Isten majd megbocsát: az a mestersége), (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999). In the following years he published Continuation (Folytatás) (1998, 1999), Pictures and Masterworks (Képek és Mesterművek) (1999), and Metmorphoses (Átváltozások) (2005). The organ artistry of Xaver Varnus attracted many people to organ playing. He is regarded as the most successful Hungarian organist ever, at home and abroad. He was honored with the Officer Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary in 2004, the Middle Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (2010), and he was made Honorary Citizen of Kőbánya. – B: 1031, 2016, T: 7456.→Kistétényi, Melida; Lehotka, Gábor; Faludy, György.
Várpalota (Palace of Buda Castle) – The Royal Palace occupies the southern section of Buda Castle. The Anjou King, Lajos I, (Louis the Great, 1342-1382) initiated the original construction of this Palace when he relocated the royal court from Visegrád to Buda. This period of construction lasted for nearly two centuries and, during the reign of King Mátyás I (Matthias Corvinus, 1458-1490), the castle became one of the greatest buildings of Europe. After the Turkish occupation, starting in 1541, the castle greatly deteriorated. In 1881, Miklós (Nicholas) Ybl received the contract to rebuild the castle. During World War II, the complex was heavily damaged, but was reconstructed during the 1970s and 1980s. During the reconstruction phase, archeological explorations found many valuable relics. Now the Palace is a cultural center, housing the Historical Museum of Budapest, the Hungarian Workers Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, and the Széchényi Library. It has been part of the World Heritage since 1988. – B: 1020, 2055, T: 7663.→Lajos I, King; Mátyás I, King; Buda Castle.
Varró, Dezső (Desider) (Kolozsvár, now Cluj-Napoca, 29 June 1907 - Dés, now Dej, 11 April 1982) – Minister of the Reformed Church, poet. He completed his high schools studies at Kolozsvár, Dés and Nagyenyed (now Aiud, Romania), and he graduated from the Dániel Berzsnyi High School at Budapest in 1927. He obtained a minister of religion degree from the Reformed Theological Academy of Kolozsvár in 1932. He read Philosophy at the University of Budapest (1934-1937). He was assistant minister in Szamosújvár (now Gherla) (1938-1941), and in Dés (1941-1947). He was minister in the Diaspora churches of Radákszinye (now Răzbuneni) (1947-1950) and Kozárvár (Cuzdrioara) (1950-1970) After retirement he lived at Dés. His first poems appeared in the News of Enyed (Enyedi Hírlap) (1925), later a number of journals published his poems including News of Brassó (Brassói Lapok), Church Life (Egyházi Közélet), Opposition (Ellenzék), Trasylvanian Helikon (Erdélyi Helikon), Young Trasylvania (Fiatal Erdély), News of East (Keleti Újság), Szamos Diary (Szamosi Napló), the West (Nyugat), News of Pest (Pesti Hírlap), and Pest Diary (Pesti Napló) (1926-1940), as well as the New Frontline (Új Arcvonal) (1931), and the New Transylvanian Anthology (Új erdélyi antológia) (1937). He was a talented poet with much promise. However, his momentum broke at the middle of the 1930s. Although some of his poems appeared in the booklets of Crop (Termés), he slowly withdrew from literary life. His only volume entitled Killer Spring (Gyilkos tavasz) containing all his poems, was published in 1970. He was a remarkable second generation poet of the post-Trianon years. At the fiftieth anniversary of is death a memorial plaque was t placed on the wall of the church of Kozárvár. – B: 1031, 1492, T: 7103.→Trianon Peace Treaty.
Varró, István (Stephen) (Nagykanizsa, 17 March 1878 - Chicago, 13 September 1963) – Publicist, sociologist, librarian and bibliographer. He studied at the universities of Budapest, Vienna and Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania); from the latter he obtained a Ph.D. in Political Science. At the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kereskedelmi és Iparkamara), Budapest, he worked as a secretary and was also the organizer and Head of the Library and the Documentation Service. Between the two world wars, he was one of the editors of the civil radical sociological journal Our Century (Századunk). He prepared the Hungarian chapter on the Gypsy problem for the International Bibliography (including Hungarian Bibliography, Gypsy Lore Society). To get away from fascism, he moved to Chicago toward the end of the 1930s, where he worked as a bookbinder. His works include Sociology and Ethnography (Szociologia és néprajz) (1907), and Bibliography of Hungarian Sociology (Magyar társadalomtudományi bibliográfia) (1909. – B: 0883, 1257, T: 7456.
Varsányi, Gyula (Julius) (Esztergom, 16 February 1912 - Adelaide, 6 January 1988) – Lawyer and publicist. He obtained his Doctorate in Law from the University of Budapest. He furthered his studies in Rome and Milan. He worked initially as a civil servant; in Berlin and Stockholm as a commercial representative, and in Copenhagen as a foreign trade negotiator. He emigrated to Australia in 1950, where he worked as an official for a large firm; later he became a Research Associate at the University of Adelaide. His main interest lay in the field of International Law and the problem of national minorities. His writings appeared in international legal and political journals and study volumes. His works include Quest for a New Central Europe, editor (1977), and Border is Fate. A study of Mid-European diffused Ethnic Minorities (1982). – B: 1672, T: 7456.

Varsányi, Irén (Irene) (Malvin Voller) (Győr, 16 August 1878 - Budapest, 17 October 1932) – Actress. In 1894, she enrolled in the Academy of Performing Arts and, before completing her studies she was hired by the newly opened Comedy Theater (Vígszinház), and remained a member of the Theater until her early death. Her abilities blossomed after a reasonably short while; in great dramatic character roles, together with Gyula (Julius) Hegedűs, she played an important part in the success and the style of the Comedy Theater. She was a leading personality of the golden age of the theater, and her art helped in the rejuvenation of the Hungarian theater. She was a member of the Comedy Theater for 35 years and acted in 217 plays. Her more important roles were: Juli in Molnár’s Liliom; Catherine in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (A Makrancos hölgy); Eliza in Shaw’s Pygmalion; Sonya in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya (Ványa bácsi), Cécile in F. Herczeg’s Blue Fox (Kék róka); Ella in Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkmann; Adél I F. Molnár’s Glass Slipper (Üvegcipő), and Olga in Chekhov’s The Three Sisters (Három nővér). She also played in a number of silent films, including The Dance (A táncz) (1901); Cox and Box (1915); Anna Karenina (1918); Sappo (1920), and The Actress (A színésznő) (1920). There is a Varsányi-Hegedűs Memorial Ring; a Street bears his name in Budapest, and a memorial plaque marks the house where she lived in Budapest. – B: 0871, 1031, T: 7684.→Hegedűs, Gyula.

Várszegi, Imre Asztrik O.S.B. (Emeric Astrix) (Sopron, 26 January 1946 - ) – Ecclesiastic. He studied Theology at the Theological Academy, Pannonhalma (1964-1971); later Hungarian and German Literature at the University of Budapest, and earned a Ph.D. in History in 1985. He entered the Benedictine Order in 1964, and was ordained into priesthood in 1971. He served as Magister from 1978 to 1986. He was Provost of the Arch Abbey from 1985 to 1988, and Auxiliary Bishop of Esztergom (1989-1992), then Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference, and Rector of the Central Seminary of Budapest, from 1989 to 1992. He was President of the Board of the Ichtys Foundation in 1990; Arch-Abbot of Pannonhalma in 1991, and a Member of the Knights of Malta from 1991. He wrote a number of articles and essays on history and spirituality, and authored a Talking Booklet (Beszélgető könyvecske) with László (Ladislas) Lengyel (1999). He is the President of the Hungarian Christian-Jewish Council, and an honorary doctor of the University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. He is a recipient the Ányos Jedlik Prize. – B: 0973, T: 7103.
Vas, Gereben (József Radákovits) (Joseph) (Fürged, 7 April 1823 - Vienna, 26 January 1868) – Writer. Following his studies in Veszprém and Vienna, he became an agricultural apprentice on a Transdanubian farm. Later, he studied Law in Gyõr, where he founded a hand-written newsletter, the Two-farthings Magazine (Kétgarasos tár). His humorous writings earned him popularity. In 1847 he became a lawyer in Pest. He published a series of satirical writings, later also as a collection. After the publication of his first volume in 1847, Life Sketches and Hornet’s Nest (Életképek és darázsfészek), he gave up his career in law and devoted his life to literature. He wrote short stories, scetches and life-scenes for journals and yearbooks. He became the second most popular writer after the great Mór (Maurice) Jókai. The government of 1848 appointed him, together with János (John) Arany, editor for the political journal, The Friend of the Nation (A nép barátja). After the Army’s surrender at Világos in 1849, he was in hiding, then captured. He was stripped of his law qualification. After his release, he wrote novels and articles for daily newspapers. Following the Compromise between Austria and Hungary at the beginning of 1868, he went to Vienna and was active as a correspondent reporting on the events on the negotiations of the two delegations. He died there and his ashes were returned to Hungary in 1885. His works include The Good Old Times (A régi jó idők) (1855), The Day Laborers of the Nation (A nemzet napszámosai) (1857), and The Penny Pinching Aristocracy (A garasos arisztokrátia) (1865), – B: 0883, 1031, 1257, T: 7667.→Arany, János; Jókai, Mór.
Vas, István (Stephen) (Budapest, 24 September 1910 - Budapest, 16 December 1991) – Poet, translator, essayist, and memoir writer He was born into a bourgeois Jewish family. The young Vas rejected his parents’ bourgeois lifestyle. He slowly realized that he was closer to his rabbi grandfather’s conservativ Judaism than to his parents’ assimilationist values. This can be seen in his memoirs Difficult Love (Nehéz szerelem) (1972); Why Does the Vulture Screech? (Mért vijjog a saskeselyű?) (1981), and Afterward (Azután) (1991). At the same time, he was critical of the Budapest Jewish bourgeoisie. The wartime experience and the years of persecution added a new dimension to Vas’ art. In two of his best-known poems, Pest Elegy (Pesti elégia) (1957) and Boccherini’s Tomb (Boccherini sírja) (ca. 1964), he paid tribute to his native city, and to those people, who helped him survive the years of darkness. His selected poems entitled Through the Smoke was translated by the American writer Bruce Berlind (1989). Among his numerous works are Three Nights of a Love (Egy szerelem három éjszakája), a tragedy with music, with Miklós (Nicholas) Hubay and György (George) Ránki (1961), and The Unknown God (Az ismeretlen Isten) study (1974). He translated many outstanding works into Hungarian, including F. Villon’s Great Testament (Nagy testamentum) (1940); C. Alvaro’s The Strong Man (Az erős ember) novel (1940); F. von Schiller’s Love and Intrigue (Ármány és szerelem) drama (1950); W. Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, drama (1960), and W. M. Thackeray’s The History of Henry Esmond (Henry Esmond története), novel (986). He was a recipient of many distinctions, including the Baumgarten Prize (1958), the Attila József Prize (1951, 1956, 1961), the Kossuth Prize (1962, 1965), and the Order of Banner with Laurels (1980). – B: 0878, 2082, T: 7103.→Hubay, Miklós; Ránki, György.
Vas, Zoltán (Weinberger) (Budapest, 30 March 1903 - Budapest, 13 August 1983) – Communist politician and writer. As a high school student, he joined the Hungarian Red Army in 1919; then, after the downfall of the Hungarian (Soviet) Republic, he took part in the organization of the Communist Youth Movement. Due to his activities, he was expelled from high school in 1920, and fled to Czechoslovakia, from where he returned to Hungary illegally with a Party task in 1921. Soon after, he was arrested and imprisoned for 10 years; however, in 1922, by way of a prisoner exchange, he was able to leave for the Soviet Union and, in Moscow, he studied at the University. In 1924 he illegally returned to Hungary. In 1925 he was again arrested and sent to prison for 6 years. In 1929, he participated in a hunger strike at the Vác prison, whereupon his punishment was increased to 13-and-a-half years. In an exchange program on 21 March 1940 he, together with Mátyás (Matthias) Rákosi and others, departed to the Soviet Union and he became an associate of the Kossuth Radio in Moscow, having also joined the Red Army. He returned to Hungary in 1945 and, until 1953, he played a decisive role in Hungarian economic policy. After a series of clashes with Ernő (Ernest) Gerő, he was relieved from his high position (Head of the National Planning Office), demoted, then lost that position as well, and was forced to “exercise self-criticism”. He belonged to Imre (Emeric) Nagy’s circle. During the 1956 Revolution, he was the food-control commissioner; on 4 November he fled to the Yugoslavian Embassy. On18 November he left the Embassy and was arrested and interned in Snagov, Romania. In 1958 he could return to Hungary, but could not enter the political life; again, instead, he devoted his time to writing. In early 1973 he was againposecued because of his autobiographic writing entitled Not the Milkman Rings the Bell (Nem a tejes csenget). Well-known are his works dealing with the life of Lajos (Louis) Kossuth (1965, 1967, 1968), and also of Miklós (Nicolas) Horthy (1975), though these reveal the inevitably one-sided historical view of the period; more enduring are his reminiscences and especially My Suppressed Book (1990, published posthumously). – B: 0881, T: 7456.→Council (Soviet) Republic of Hungary; Banners of 1848-1849; Kossuth, Lajos; Horthy, Miklós; Rákosi, Mátyás; Gerő, Ernő; Nagy, Imre.
Vasadi Péter (family name: Víz) (Újpest, 1 June 1926 - ) – Writer and poet. First, he attended school in Nagyvárad (now Oradea, Romania); later, went to the Cadet School of Thaldorf in Bavaria. From 1947 to 1949, he was an leather-merchant apprentice. He did the maturity examination in an evening course in 1948. Thereafter, he studied at the University of Budapest and gained a Degree in German Literature in 1951, while earning a living as engineering draftsman and unskilled laborer. In 1952 he became Head of the Planning Group of the Transport Service. From 1967, he became an associate of the Catholic publications New Man (Új Ember) and Vigilia. He appeared in the anthology With our Bread (A Magunk Kenyerén) in 1972. His poetry has a transcendental quality, searching for the probabilities of compassion, love and humaneness. His works include Report from Babylon (Jelentés Babilonból) poems (1974); Time Presses (Sürget az idő) essays (1996), and My Window Looks Out to the Sea (Kinéz tengerre ablakom), poems (1997). He was awarded a number of distinctions, including the Attila József Prize (1991), the Artis Jus Literary Prize (1993), the György Rónay Prize (1994), and the Milan Füst Award (1996). – B: 0878, 1257, T: 7456.

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