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APPENDIX XXVI

THE MAGYARIZATION OF FAMILY NAMES AND OFFICIAL PRESSURE

In 1881 the various forestry departments of Hungary received the following circular from headquarters : —

.... Hence it is easy to justify the endeavour of leading circles, that hand in hand with the development of Magyar literature and with the declaration of patriotic feeling, the officials of the Forestry depart­ment should crown with a list of names of good Magyar sound[1]  the building whose foundation has cost so much self-sacrifice, trouble and activity. But it is regrettable that despite the evidence of this good feeling there should hardly be a body in all Hungary in which we meet with so many foreign-sounding names as among the forestry officials. Both in order to restore this balance, and also as your benevolent superior, who is convinced that under equal conditions the Magyarization of your names does involve some advantage for you, I consider it to be my duty, in order to further your best interests, to urge and encourage you to a general movement. But I also enjoin you to endeavour to plant a similar spirit among the subordinate foresters. The formalities for the Mag­yarization of names have now been made so easy that it is merely necessary to hand in to the Vice-Sheriff of the County a petition bear­ing a one-crown stamp, and accompanied by the baptismal certificates of the children and employment papers. In the latter the places, of birth and abode, position and moral character are to be filled in.

kolozsvár,                                                             girsik, m.p.[2]

December 16, 1881.

On February 5, 1898, the Minister of the Interior sent the follow­ing circular to all municipalities of Hungary : —

(No. 13,211.)

I send you herewith ten copies of a pamphlet by Alexander Telkes, President of the Central Society for the Magyarization of Surnames, entitled, "How should we Magyarize our family names?" for suitable distribution among the public of your municipality, with the request to instruct all officials to further the salutary (üdvös) movement for the Magyarization of names in the widest possible circles. For the Minis­ter,

joseph latkoczy,

Secretary of Slate.[3]

On January 25, 1898, a private circular was addressed by Urban Sipos, the School Inspector of Bihar county, to all schoolmasters under him : —

I call your attention to the fact that by permission of the Minister of Education your colleague, Nicholas Radovich, teacher at the state school of Közepes, has changed his name to "Keti," Aug. Bruckenthal, teacher at the state school of Haimagi, to "Bihari," and finally John Modora, teacher at the state school of Olosig, to "Tinódi." I therefore request you in your correspondence with them in future to use Magyarized names. In this connexion I express the hope and expecta­tion, that these patriotic examples, which affect neither religious con­viction nor the interests of the mother tongue, but are merely a proof of a patriotic sentiment above all question — will be speedily followed by the teachers who do not as yet possess names of a Magyar sound ; for otherwise I should, to my great regret, be forced to the conviction that the teachers in question have not the necessary will and courage to offer unequivocal proofs of their loyal devotion to the Magyar father­land, or they would prove that they subordinate this lofty aim to other trivial considerations. While urging you to further the patriotic movement to which I have referred, I remain, with regards,

orban sipos,

Royal Inspector of Schools.[4]

nagyvárad, January 25, 1898.

Dr. Guntram Schultheiss (Deutschtum und Magyarisirung, p. 74, note) cites a case of a Roumanian schoolboy who was forbidden to write his name Majoru with an "u" at the end. He had no need, said the teacher, of "Daco-Romanists" in his school; names must be written in good Magyar.