Abaújszántó is a small

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, about from the county seat

Miskolc Miskolc ( , ; ; Czech language, Czech and ; ; ; ) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 as of 1 January 2014, Miskolc is the List of cities and towns in Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, ...

. It belongs to the famous

Tokaj-Hegyalja Tokaj wine region ( ) or Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region (short ''Tokaj-Hegyalja'' or ''Hegyalja'') is a historical wine region located in northeastern Hungary and southeastern Slovakia. It is also one of the seven larger wine regions of Hungary ...

wine district.

Name

The ''Abaúj-'' prefix refers to its location in

Abaúj County Abaúj (, , or ) is a historic administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. In parts of the 19th century, and in the beginning of the 20th century, it was united with Torna County to form Abaúj-To ...

, while ''-szántó'', meaning "plower" refers to agriculture.

History

Abaújszántó has been inhabited since ancient times. The Hungarians settled down in the area around the Conquest of Hungary. It was a town for more than 600 years, the centre of the Gönc district until 1921 and the largest town of the region after Kassa. It lost its town status in 1902, and in many ways its role was taken over by

Encs Encs is a small town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary, 30 kilometers from the county capital Miskolc. History The area has been inhabited for at least 6,000 years. After the Hungarians occupied the area, it became part of ''Új ...

. It was the centre of the Abaújszántó district from 1921 till 1962. Many famous men had connections with Abaújszántó, the poet Ilosvai Selymes Péter worked here as a schoolmaster, and

Gáspár Károli Gáspár is a Hungarian masculine given name, equivalent to English Jasper, and may refer to: * Gáspár Bekes (1520–1579), Hungarian nobleman * Gáspár Boldizsár (fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Lat ...

, who translated the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

to Hungarian, lived nearby, and the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

pastors of Abaújszántó helped him in his translating work. The esperantist poet and translator

Kálmán Kalocsay Kálmán Kalocsay (; 6 October 1891 in Abaújszántó – 27 February 1976) was a Hungarian Esperantist poet, translator, and editor who significantly influenced Esperanto culture, both in its literature and in the language itself, throu ...

was also born in Abaújszántó. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, there was a large Jewish community of about 681 Jews. The community was annihilated by the Nazis in the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Abaújszántó was granted town status again in 2004.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Abaújszántó is twinned with: *

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, since 2009

Notable people

Mihály Farkas Mihály Farkas (born Hermann Lőwy; 18 July 1904 – 6 December 1965) was a Hungary, Hungarian Communist politician who served as Minister of Defence (Hungary), Minister of National Defense of the Hungarian People's Republic. Biography He ...

(1904–1965), Hungarian

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician and Minister of National Defense

References

External links

* in Hungarian
Information on www.1hungary.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abaujszanto Populated places in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County