The grave of István Farbaky, mining engineer, head of department, and member of parliament.

The grave of István Farbaky, mining engineer, head of department, director of the Selmecbánya Mining and Forestry Academy, inventor, and member of parliament. ; ; István Farbaky, the distinguished inventor and professional writer, the excellent school organizer and college teacher, was born on August 15, 1836 in Nyíregyháza. He completed elementary school and junior high school in his hometown. In 1850, he moved to Prešov, where he graduated from high school. Between 1854 and 1858, he studied mining and metallurgy at the Selmec Academy. In 1859, he was an intern in Pŕíbram, Czech Republic, and then in 1859, he became an assistant professor at the academy's mathematics, physics, and mechanics department. From 1865 he was a full-time teacher, and from 1872 to 1892 he was a lecturer and head of the department of general and ironworks mechanics. In the meantime, from 1876 he was also the director and rector of the academy. He was elected to this position six times. The institution owes him a great deal. His knowledge and talent were recognized by his students even when he was forced to lecture in German, despite the fact that he could not speak this language well at the time. He recalls all this in his autobiography: “I experienced that despite my imperfect command of the German language, the students and the teaching staff were satisfied with my activities, and not only did the academy’s board of directors grant me special remuneration for my lectures at the end of the year, which was repeated several times, but the youth of the academy also showed their appreciation in their own way, so that when they left the Schacht (youth pub) to go home or to the city, singing German under my windows, they never failed to conclude in Hungarian with the refrain ‘Long live Uncle Pista’.” (I. Farbaky, p. 26.1929) The founding of the Forestry Newspapers in Selmecbánya fell on this period. Many of the researchers involved in the subject have forgotten Farbaky’s merits in founding the newspaper. Perhaps because he himself was a mining engineer. However, his recollections reveal that he, along with Károly Wagner, Adolf Divald and others, did a lot for the Hungarian forestry language. It is true that Divald was the “most agile and restless” among them, because “he spoke out and sharply criticized the Germanizing »Ungarische Forstverein« and its journal, the »Ung. Forstzeitung«... (Farbaky I., 1929. 26. p.) The Viennese ministry did not like the activities of the Hungarian-minded teachers from Selmecbánya, so Divald and Wagner were temporarily transferred from there. Thus, Farbaky was temporarily entrusted with the publication and editing of the Forestry Journals. The dismissed teachers naturally also supervised the work from the background. Farbaky also had great merit in the fact that from October 1867, foresters could be taught in Hungarian. Unfortunately, the mining academy continued to teach in German. In the 1880s, further successes were achieved under Farbaky's direction. In 1881, the first issue of the Mining and Metallurgical Journal was published. Farbaky was the editor of the journal until 1892, and contributed greatly to the development of the Hungarian mining terminology. In 1884, the knowledgeable teachers were concerned with lighting the school premises. They sought to produce their own batteries, which they succeeded in doing. Farbaky was also the main credit for this. "His name is remembered among Hungarian inventors for the high-performance battery he developed together with István Schenek." (L. Zsámboki, 1983. p. 152) Farbaky also developed the academy's new educational system and curricula. According to this, four majors were taught at the Faculty of Mining, namely mining, metallurgy, ferrous metallurgy and mechanical engineering. Together with Antal Péch, he did a lot for the modernization of mining in Selmec. The era of major constructions also began during Farbaky's rectorship. The institute purchased and renovated several buildings, its collection grew, etc. The Fritz house was re-enchanted according to the plans of Frigyes Schulek, and by 1891 the new forestry "palace" was built, etc. Meanwhile, the teachers also had the energy to form the Hungarian Mining Literature Support Association even before the major constructions. Thus, the language of the profession was increasingly built and developed. Farbaky's public and literary activities were also diverse. From 1889 he became chief mining advisor, and from 1903 ministerial advisor. Between 1892 and 1901 he was a member of parliament for Selmecbánya. For a long time he also held the position of vice-president of the National Hungarian Mining and Metallurgy Association, and for years he supervised the local Lutheran high school. Together with István Schenek he wrote a fundamental study on electric batteries (Bányászati és Kohászati Lapok, 1885). His pioneering work entitled Calculation of Gears was published in Selmecbánya in 1892. In 1901, the report of the member of parliament for Selmecbánya was published in Hungarian and Slovak in the same place. István Farbaky remained in Selmecbánya even after the academy was relocated to Sopron. He lived alone in the city (for a while he lived in the building next to the Rubigall house on Szentháromság Square) and died unmarried on December 3, 1928. His tombstone can be seen today in the Lutheran cemetery next to Kopogtató. He deserves that Hungarians visiting here pay their respects to him. ; ; Acknowledgements: ; MTA Marczibányi Award; From 1876, director of the Mining and Forestry Academy, re-elected six times. ; In 1892, member of parliament; One of the founders and vice-president of the OMBKE (National Hungarian Mining and Metallurgical Association).