István Kováts
Encyclopedia
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
pastor, senior, writer and historian. He wrote in the wends dialect
Wends dialect
Prekmurian, also known as the Pannonian-Slovene, East-Slovene, or Wendish , is the easternmost separate dialect of Slovene, spoken in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia and by the Hungarian Slovenes in Vas county in western Hungary...
(the language of the Hungarian Slovenes
Hungarian Slovenes
Hungarian Slovenes are an autochthonous ethnic and linguistic Slovene minority living in Hungary. The largest groups are the Rába Slovenes in the Rába Valley in western Hungary between the town of Szentgotthárd and the borders with Slovenia and Austria. They speak the Prekmurje dialect of Slovene...
, people of Prekmurje
Prekmurje
Prekmurje is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region settled by Slovenes and lying between the Mur River in Slovenia and the Rába Valley in the most western part of Hungary...
).
Born in Lébény
Lébény
Lébény is a village in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary. It has a romanesque family church from the 12th century. Similar medieval Hungarian clan / family financed "house" churches are in Ják, Ócsa, Nyírbátor, Harina, Mălâncrav....
, near Győr
Gyor
-Climate:-Main sights:The ancient core of the city is Káptalan Hill at the confluence of three rivers: the Danube, Rába and Rábca. Püspökvár, the residence of Győr’s bishops can be easily recognised by its incomplete tower. Győr’s oldest buildings are the 13th-century dwelling tower and the...
, he first studied in Sopron
Sopron
In 1910 Sopron had 33,932 inhabitants . Religions: 64.1% Roman Catholic, 27.8% Lutheran, 6.6% Jewish, 1.2% Calvinist, 0.3% other. In 2001 the city had 56,125 inhabitants...
, and then in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
at the University of Halle-Wittenberg
University of Halle-Wittenberg
The Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg , also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg within Saxony-Anhalt, Germany...
and University of Jena. He was consecrated on September 29, 1889 and made chaplain in Tét
Tét
Tét is a town in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary....
, in 1891 in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. On March 12, 1892 he went to Wendic March, in Murska Sobota
Murska Sobota
Murska Sobota is a city in northeastern Slovenia. It is located in the eponymous municipality near the Mura River in the region of Prekmurje and is the regional capital.-Name:...
, where he learned the wends dialect.
He married Irena von Berke
Von Berke
Berke family was an old noble family in Vas County . They were landowners and bankers. Noble title is unknown, but they were a part of lower nobility, that means that they held a title of: baron, ritter von, or edler von. On 10. December 1609 Berke Mathyas was elevated into nobility. On 23...
, a Hungarian noblewoman who was the daughter of Mihaly von Berke, a wealthy landowner and owner of the Bank of Wendic March. They had three children; two daughters and one son. His son Karel Kováts (later Kovač) built the new evangelical church
Evangelical Church
The term Evangelical Church may refer specifically to:* Slovak Evangelical Church* Armenian Evangelical Church* Assyrian Evangelical Church* Christian Evangelical Church of Romania* Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus...
in Gornji Slaveči
Gornji Slaveči
Gornji Slaveči is a village in the Kuzma Municipality in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia.There is a large Evangelical church in the settlement. It was built in 1928.-External links:*...
and was senior of the evangelical church in Slovenia.
István Kováts was the president of the Bank of Wendic March, and senior of Evangelical Congregation of Mura
Mura
The Mur is a river in Central Europe rising in the Hohe Tauern national park in Austria with its source being 1,898 metres above sea level, a tributary of the Drava and subsequently the Danube.The Mur's total length is , of which 295 km is in Austria, 95 km is in...
up till 1941. He built the new evangelical church in Murska Sobota, and the evangelical dormitory. In 1940 was wrote up the history of Evangelical Vicarage of Murska Sobota, and edited the calendar
Calendar
A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not...
Evangeličanski koledar, and the gazette of Düševni List. He died in Murska Sobota
Murska Sobota
Murska Sobota is a city in northeastern Slovenia. It is located in the eponymous municipality near the Mura River in the region of Prekmurje and is the regional capital.-Name:...
on 11th of December 1945. For his contribution to the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
he received the National Defence Cross (Nemzetvédelmi Kereszt) from Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...
himself. Alexander I of Yugoslavia
Alexander I of Yugoslavia
Alexander I , also known as Alexander the Unifier was the first king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as well as the last king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes .-Childhood:...
awarded him with Order of St. Sava
Order of St. Sava
The Order of St. Sava was a decoration instituted by the order King Milan I of Serbia in 1883. The Order of Saint Sava originally was established to recognize civilians for meritorious achievements in the arts and sciences. In 1914 a change was made permitting military personnel to receive the...
(IV Class).
Source
Literature
- Kovats Štefan (1866–1945). Evangeličanski koledar 1952. 55-56.
- Theodor Hari: Zgodovina evangeličanske cerkve v Murski Soboti, 2000.