page_title: Ferenc Kazinczy
section_title: Sárospatak (1769-1779)
hierarchical_section_title: Ferenc Kazinczy / Life / Sárospatak (1769-1779)
caption_attribution_description: Magyar: A felvétel 2014. április 9 –én, szerdán készült Sárospatakon. Sárospataki Református Kollégium Könyvtára, Iskola Múzeum. ©© Derzsi Elekes Andor, Budapest, 2014, A kép és filmfelvételek egészben, vagy részletekben másolását, bármilyen úton történő sokszorosítását és felhasználását a szerző ellenérték nélkül, jogutódjaira is kihatóan megengedi. Az engedély kiterjed a kereskedelmi célú hasznosításra is. Kéri azonban nevének feltüntetését a felhasználás során. A Metapolisz sorozat valamennyi képe és filmje Creative Commons alatti valamint kereskedelmi - for profit - célra is felhasználható. Ajánlott hivatkozás: Derzsi Elekes Andor: Metapolisz DVD line http://nektar.oszk.hu/en/manifestation/2623913
context_page_description: Ferenc Kazinczy was a Hungarian author, poet, translator, neologist, the most indefatigable agent in the regeneration of the Hungarian language and literature at the turn of the 19th century. Today his name is connected with the extensive Language Reform of the 19th century, when thousands of words were coined or revived, enabling the Hungarian language to keep up with scientific progress and become an official language of the nation in 1844. For his linguistic and literary works he is regarded as one of the cultural founders of the Hungarian Reform Era along with Dávid Baróti Szabó, Ferenc Verseghy, György Bessenyei, Mátyás Rát and János Kis.
context_section_description: On September 11, 1769, he became a student at the College of Sárospatak where he taught himself Ancient Greek. He studied philosophy and law during his first years. In 1773 he started to learn rhetoric. Even in the same year December he greeted General Count Miklós Beleznay as a member of the thanksgiving delegation of the college in Bugyi on a special reception for donating money toward the construction of the college. Then Kazinczy saw Pest for the first time. Until 1775 he attended the theology courses at the college and from a French soldier who came to Sárospatak learnt French.
  He translated György Bessenyei's short story written in German, Die Amerikaner, to Hungarian and published it in 1776 in Kassa with the title Az amerikai Podoc és Kazimir keresztyén vallásra való megtérése (English: The conversion of American Podoc and Kazimir to the Christian religion). He recommended his translation to his mother. This work informed him about Deism and the principle of religious tolerance. In his translation Kazinczy used the word világosság (meaning clarity, lucidity) the first time in the history of the Hungarian language. Bessenyei welcomed it and his response was inspirational for Kazinczy. Kazinczy understood Bessenyei's response as a liberating letter for the profession of an author. He was happy finding the contact with one of the most prominent authors in Hungarian literature of that time. But Kazinczy did not become a follower of Bessenyei, because Bessenyei as a culture politician and philosopher did not mature his works so much so that he could create a literary school.
  Ferenc's uncle was a member of the delegation of Zemplén County in Vienna at the royal court and he took the young Kazinczy along. This travel made a huge impact on him. It was the first time that Kazinczy saw the emperor's city, whose magnificent collections, especially his pictures, completely enthralled him.
  At that time Kazinczy followed the thoughts of Salomon Gessner, Christoph Martin Wieland and Dávid Baróti Szabó. Later he got Sándor Báróczi's translation of Jean-François Marmontel's Contes Moraux (English: Moral tales) from the librarian of Sárospatak, which became his favourite book and he later took it along also in the prison. So he decided to seek after how can he lay a wreath on Báróczi's works. What fascinated him was this beautiful new style, the rhythmically arranged packing of sentences, the rigidity and purity of the language with a dramatic compactness, and the French strangeness which made the translation truly incomprehensible for simple litterateurs. It showed Kazinczy a sample for the cultivation of Hungarian belles-lettres. Thus after being primarily inspired by Bessenyi he found himself a life goal as a translator and cultivator of the Hungarian language.
caption: The library of the College of Sárospatak where Kazinczy spent his time reading and learning
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