The grave of the Lutheran pastor János Endreffy, Sr.

János Endreffy Sr. was born on February 9, 1848 in Mezőberény. He graduated from the Lutheran Theological Academy in Bratislava, then in 1870, he studied for a year at the University of Jena. His places of service: as a teacher in Békéscsaba, then in Tótkomlós, Pilis, Csomád, Fót, Domony. On February 1, 1888, he came to Felsőszeli as a pastor. His wife was Anna Tepliczky, born in Bártfa. Their children: 1889: Eugénia and Erzsébet, 1890: Vilma, 1891: János; During the time of János Endreffy Sr., the church, rectory, and teachers' quarters in Felsőszeli were renovated, and the school was even expanded with a classroom. His writings appear in the church press, and in 1899 his booklet titled Pünkösdi emlék was published, which contains sermons. As was the booklet titled Reformation speech published in Losonc in 1903. However, his most significant work is Data on the history of the Upper-Szelii Evangelical Church, which was published in 1910 in Galánta. He retired in 1911 and moved to Budapest. Elder Endreffy returned to the village when his son, János, received the position of pastor here in 1918. After that, he devoted his life mostly to writing: more than a hundred of his articles were published in the Evangelical Newspaper (between 1922-1938), and it was during this time that he also wrote his plays on biblical themes. The most famous was Jefte's Vow, 1923, which was performed by amateur performers throughout the country. Then came the following plays: Manasseh, 1924, Bileam, 1925, John the Baptist, 1930, King Kálmán the Bookish, and the Religious Scenes ... ; János Endreffy Sr. died on April 26, 1938, at the age of ninety. His grave is in the cemetery, between pastors Pál Farkas and Mihály Leskó - which the people of Szeged still take great care of. ; ; It is true that he is not buried here, but since he was born here and practiced his profession here between the two wars, we also mention János Endreffy Jr. ; János Endreffy Jr. was born on October 9, 1891 in Felsőszeli, the fourth child of János Endreffy and Anna Tepliczky. He spent his childhood in Felsőszeli and also completed elementary school here. Following in his father's footsteps, he graduated from the Theological Academy in Bratislava. In 1913, he was ordained a pastor in Balassagyarmat. A year later, he married Hermina Hajek. Shortly after, he was transferred to Selmecbánya as an assistant pastor, and in the same year he was transferred to Lajoskomárom. He participated in the First World War, where in 1916-17 he visited the Russian and then the Italian fronts as a camp chaplain. In 1918, he was transferred to Felsőszeli, where he took over the pastoral office from Baron Pál Podmaniczky. Endreffy returned to his native village in Mátyusföld. ; By the time the war was over, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy had ceased to exist and János Endreffy Jr. was able to begin his pastoral service in a new country, the Czechoslovak Republic. János Endreffy Jr. was the Evangelical pastor of the village for twenty years. During his service in Felsőszeli, he did a lot for the local believers, for the Hungarians in Slovakia. He understood the situation of the Hungarians in Slovakia, and the Evangelicals here! János Endreffy Jr. became the editor-in-chief of the Evangelical Newspaper, which was restarted in 1922, and Ödön Fizély was responsible for the editing. The twice-monthly newspaper was published in Léva, Somorjá, and then Rozsnyó. Both the father, the elder Endreffy, and the son, the younger Endreffy, often published in it. In 1935, János Endreffy Jr. was elected secretary of the Hungarian Evangelical Association of Slovenia. Later, János Endreffy Jr. became the church president of the Hungarian Evangelical Association of Slovenia. This function took up a lot of his time, as he was now in Bratislava more than at home. When his father died in April 1938 and his children were studying in Bratislava, he was offered a great opportunity. He was invited to become the pastor of the German-Hungarian Evangelical Church in Bratislava. János Endreffy accepted, so in May 1938 he said goodbye to the Upper Szekszéli and moved to the capital, Bratislava. He became fully involved in the cultural life of the Hungarians in Bratislava: in addition to his pastoral activities, he took on the position of religious teacher at the local gymnasium. In 1939, he was elected vice-president of the Toldy Circle. ; After World War II, the great powers restored Czechoslovakia with the Paris Peace Treaty. The new government that was forming did not look favorably on his activities for the Hungarians, and expelled him from the country. First he went to Mezőhegyes, then in 1948, a group of Felsőszelien who had been resettled to Mágocs invited him to be their pastor. He served for five years in Mágocs, retired from there in the autumn of 1952 and was sent to the church nursing home in Nyíregyháza. He had three children: Zoltán (born in 1915), who also became a priest, Géza (born in 1918) who became a doctor, while Lóránt (born in 1920) entered the military. ; János Endreffy Jr. died on December 31, 1973, at the age of eighty-two in Nyíregyháza. Among his literary works, it is worth mentioning "The 450th Anniversary of Luther and Today's Catholicism 1483-1933", which was published in Bratislava in 1934. ; János Endreffy Jr. played a significant role in the Hungarian community in Slovenia and in Hungarian Evangelicalism between the two world wars. He dedicated his book "450 Years of Luther and Today's Catholicism" published in 1933 to the Lutheran provost of Helsinki and state secretary of public education, Yrjöö Loimaranta. His article about the reception of the Finnish delegation visiting Upper Szeli and the joint Finnish-Hungarian church service, titled "Finn brothers in Upper Szeli", published in the Evangelical Newspaper, volume 13, issue 10-11 (1934. VI. 14, Somorja), provides insight into the relationship between the Finnish Evangelical Church and the Hungarian minority in Slovenia, and into everyday life at that time.