Hajnóczy R. Joseph

* Derecske, February 14, 1854 – † Levoca, May 30, 1931 / historian, teacher ; ; Born in the Great Plain, he was originally called Rajmund Zák, but in 1884 he took the surname of his mother, Lujza Hajnóczy, and in addition to it, his illustrious ancestor's first name (József) and original surname are indicated by only an R. He himself almost ostentatiously wrote his name as Hajnóci, but his children used their grandmother's surname in its original form. He completed his secondary school studies in Nagyvárad, Derecske, Debrecen and Késmárk. Between 1875 and 1878 he attended lectures on history, geography, philosophy and education at the University of Budapest. In 1878 he obtained a secondary school gym teacher's diploma and taught physical education at the VIII. district of the capital for a year. In 1880 he obtained a doctorate in geography, Hungarian history and diploma studies, and in May 1881 he obtained a teaching certificate in history and geography. Between 1880 and 1888 he worked as an employee of the capital's education inspectorate and taught in various schools. In 1881 he married Eugénia Marcsek, originally from Szepes; and ten children were born from their marriage, seven of whom lived to adulthood. [One of their daughters was Rózsa Hajnóczy (Lőcse, 1892 – Budapest, 1944), who became the wife of the orientalist and historian Gyula Germánus (1884–1979) and immortalized their Indian journey and experiences in his book Bengal Fire with literary devices.] In the spring of 1888 he was appointed as the education inspector of Szepes county and at that time he permanently settled in Lőcse. He was actively involved in the public life of the city. He was the secretary of the Szepes County Historical Society, and as the editor-in-chief of the Szepesi Lapok, he regularly published, but often wrote historical or humorous articles for other contemporary newspapers and professional journals (mostly under a pseudonym), and also published textbooks and local history works. His most significant studies are related to the past, natural conditions and history of the Szepes region. ; ; His main works: ; The life of József Hajnóczy 1750–1794, 1894, ; The natural conditions and mining of the Szepes mining region, parts I and II. (In: Annual of the Hungarian Carpathian Association, volumes 31 and 32), ; 1904–1905, ; Lőcsei kalauz, 1910, ; Jókai Szepesben. Literary historical drawing, 1925, ; History of the mining towns of Spiš, 1903/1931