The Jeszenszky family or Jesenský (also ''Jessensky'', ''Jessinsky'', ''Jessensky de Gross Jessen'') is the name of two old

noble families Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. Th ...

in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. They have a mutual name but their origins are different.

Kisjeszen family

The first known ancestor of the ''Kisjeszen'' (Minor Jeszen) family was the

castle warrior A castle warrior or castle serf (, )Bán 1989, p. 237. was a landholder obliged to provide military services to the ''ispán'' or head of a royal castle district in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. Castle warriors "formed a privileged, elite clas ...

''András Temérdek'' who received lands in

Turóc County Turóc (Hungarian language, Hungarian, historically also spelled ''Túrócz''), , /''comitatus Thurociensis'', ) was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in north-we ...

() from king

Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of Andrew II of Hungary, King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group ...

in 1255. The family introduced their new surname after the name of a village "Jeszen" (Jaseno, now Turčianske Jaseno).László Fodor
A kisjeszeni Jeszenszky család Szatmárban
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020233517/http://www.szszbmo.hu/szemle/dokumentumtar/doc_download/119 , date=2013-10-20 , Szabolcs-Szatmár Bereg Megyei Önkormányzat, 2008, p. 31 In the 14th century the family used the "Kisjeszeni" ("de Kisjeszen") name form and the Slovak variant of their name "Jeszenszky" came into use from the 15th century.

Nagyjeszen family

The first known member of the ''Nagyjeszen'' (Major Jeszen) family was called ''Mágya''. In 1278 Mágya received his noble title, because of his valor in the

Battle on the Marchfeld The Battle on the Marchfeld (''i.e. Morava (river), Morava Field''; ; ; ); at Dürnkrut, Austria, Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen took place on 26 August 1278 and was a decisive event for the history of Central Europe for the following centuries. T ...

Famous members of the families

Ladislaus Jesenský died in 1526 during the catastrophic

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; , ) took place on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of Hungary, led by King Louis II of Hungary, Louis II, and the invading Ottoman Empire, commanded by Suleima ...

. Subsequently, all Jesenský property was confiscated by the advancing

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

, so brothers Melchior, Lorenz and Balthasar Jesenský moved to

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

(then part of the

Crown of Bohemia The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods with feudal obligations to the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of Bohemia, an electorate of the Hol ...

) and lived in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

and

Świdnica Świdnica (; ; ) is a city on the Bystrzyca (Oder), Bystrzyca River in south-western Poland in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. As of 2021, it has a population of 55,413 inhabitants. It is the seat of Świdnica County, and also of the smaller dis ...

from 1541 onward. Balthasar's son was Ján Jesenský, known as

Jan Jesenius Jan Jesenius, also written as Jessenius (, , ; December 27, 1566 – June 21, 1621), was a Bohemian physician, politician and philosopher. Life Early years He was from an old noble family, the House of Jeszenszky, originally from the Kingdom of ...

, famous scientist and politician who lived and died in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. Branches of the families are still living in

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 ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

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 ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and England. Important family members: *

(1566–1621), Bohemian physician, philosopher and politician, rector of

Charles University in Prague Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation, the oldest university north of the ...

* Růžena Jesenská (1863–1940),

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

novelist * Jan Jesenský (1870–1947), Czech scientist, professor of Charles University *

Janko Jesenský Baron Ján Jesenský (30 December 1874 in Tučiansky Svätý Martin (), Kingdom of Hungary (present day Martin, Slovakia) – 27 December 1945 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia) was a Slovak lower nobleman of the House of Jeszenszky, poet, prose ...

(1874–1945), Slovak poet, prose writer and translator *

Milena Jesenská Milena Jesenská (; 10 August 1896 – 17 May 1944) was a Czech Republic, Czech journalist, writer, editor and translator. She is noted for her correspondence with the author Franz Kafka and was one of the first to translate his work from the ...

(1896–1944), Czech journalist and translator, friend of

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

* Jan Jesenský Jr. (1904–1942), Czech scientist, assistant professor of Charles University * Ferenc Jeszenszky (1905–1990), Hungarian economist, during 1949–52 was a president of

Hungarian National Bank The Hungarian National Bank ( , MNB) is the central bank of Hungary and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It was established in 1924 as a successor entity of the Austro-Hungarian Bank, under the economic assistance ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Géza Jeszenszky Géza Jeszenszky (born 10 November 1941) is a Hungarian politician and associate professor, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and a former ambassador to the United States. He was ambassador of Hungary to Norway and Iceland from 2011 to 2014. Fa ...

(1941–), Hungarian politician, in 1990–94

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

References

Sources

Jan Jesenius and his family's short bio (Hungarian)
Jesensky Jeszenszky Jesensky Jesensky Jeszenszky

Kisjeszen family

Nagyjeszen family

Famous members of the families

See also

References

Sources