The tomb of Mrs. Kálmán Kandó

Kálmán Kandó (the father of railway electrification) got engaged on September 11, 1898 in Rozsnyó, and on February 2, 1899 in Budapest, in Terézváros, he married Ilona Mária Petronella Posch (1880-1913), who was 11 years younger than him, the daughter of Gyula Posch (1851-1923) and Ilona Horváth, a scion of an old noble family from Zólyom County that had long since originated in Rozsnyó. ; Kandó himself came from an old noble family, the names Strégová and Farnos were used as first names, his ancestors included people named Rimay and he was related to several famous noble families from Nógrád. Kálmán Kandó was an exceptionally talented, hard-working, persistent and highly respected professional, and was exceptionally successful in his work. ; However, a whole series of tragedies cast a shadow over his private life. The first serious blow was the loss of his beloved wife, Ilonka Pósch, who died in Rozsnyó on July 9, 1913. According to the surviving data, the young woman's death was caused by kidney failure at the age of barely 33, and Ilonka was already the mother of two small children, a boy and a girl. Her grave is decorated with a monument carved from Carrara marble, created by a well-known Italian sculptor named Amleto Cataldi. It is interesting that Amleto Cataldi - several of whose works, such as the statue of Leonardo da Vinci in Ambois - are recorded in Italian art history, also died young, barely 48 years old. Three relatively young people who died are connected by the pain carved in stone. Because Kálmán Kandó also died relatively early, barely 61 years old. He rests in the Fiumei út cemetery – formerly the Kerepesi út cemetery – in the 6th grave of the 1st row of plot 46, his tombstone is the work of Ernő Müller. After being widowed, the inventor-engineer never remarried, and after the death of his beloved wife, he devoted all his strength to his work. The scientist’s health was also weakened by another shocking event, when his son, Kálmán Kandó Jr. – who was born at the end of 1899 – committed suicide at the age of barely 23. During the hardships of life, Kálmán Kandó’s only consolation was that his daughter Sára Ilona, born in 1901, had a successful marriage, and in 1924 his grandson György Dobrovits was born. This branch of the family still exists today, living in German-speaking areas.