Zoltán László’s Father Mihály (1849–1932) and His Milieu

This chapter describes the social environments and geographical regions in which László’s parents were raised. This section reconstructs his father’s singular career and the social mobility that allowed him to become a member of the elite social groups that lent political support to the project of building up the Hungarian nation-state, and literature and journalism played a key role in legitimizing these efforts. Zoltán’s father Mihály came from a poor family of Bukovinian Székelys; he owed his career and social advancement to a series of scholarships he received from the Catholic Church. By marrying Wanda Corzan y Avendano, Mihály László became a Hungarian landowner and one of the capital city’s largest taxpayers.