The grave of Emil Grillusz

The Selmec Academy had some very talented but unfortunate students and teachers. Some of them started their careers well, but later collapsed, their energy being consumed by the many small jobs and failures. It was not the many technical papers and books that made their names immortal, but the exemplary and diligent work they did for the development of the given field of study. Emil Grillusz was one of them. He was born on May 21, 1857 in Besztercebánya. He studied at the mining department of the Selmec Academy between 1875–78, receiving his diploma in 1881. He spent his internship years in Selmec, Újbánya and Nagyág. In 1882, he returned to the academy, where he was Ede Pöschl's assistant until 1884 in the department of descriptive geometry. He also worked in the mining department of the Ministry of Finance, but practice always interested him more. Between 1884 and 1891, he worked as an employee of the treasury mines in Selmec, and then the Ministry of Finance followed. However, he could not separate himself from his beloved homeland. As the apt description was written upon his death: “Grillus was not helped by family connections, but his ability, recognized by his superiors, predestined him to solve this enormous task. And he, heated by the fire of ambition burning in his weak body, left his peaceful position in the ministry to sacrifice himself for the mining industry he loved with passion for his homeland.” (Abzinger Gy., 1920. p. 50) He was the one who “put all his energy into the service of restoring an ancient mining industry that had almost completely declined”, and whose life was nevertheless “a tragedy of misunderstanding, his death of disappointment”. ; There is no doubt that he did not do, could not do everything in the time he had available. The worsening economic situation also affected the mining industry in Selmec. The war years in particular had a negative impact on Grillusz’s work. “He fought great battles deep in his soul, seeing how the troubles of war were destroying his half-finished work.” And in vain did he devote his entire life to the future of Selmec, but in the end he became an exile in his own homeland, which – as the contemporary correspondent writes – “became a haven for anarchy, and wild foreigners took over”. “A painful fate!” – we read in the obituary. – Even his ashes are surrounded by the sons of a foreign nation, and even the final honors that his nation would have given him out of duty, he had to receive from a stranger and out of mercy.” (Abzinger Gy., 1920. p. 51.) His grave still stands in the cemetery next to the Knocker, but it is no longer listed in today’s publication presenting the tombstones of prominent figures in cemeteries. (Klinka, Š., 2000.)