Pál Rosty de Barkócz (pronunciation: pa:l 'rɔʃti 'bɒrkɔ:ʦ 29 November 1830 – 7 December 1874) was a Hungarian nobleman, photographer, and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

Life

Born in Pest in the former

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 ...

. Pál István Ferenc, was a member of the illustrious ancient

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Hungarian noble family (in Hungarian: ''barkóczi Rosty'' család). His father was Albert Rosty de Barkócz (1779–1847), jurist, landowner, vice-ispán of the county of Békés (''alispán of Békés''), and his mother was Anna Eckstein de Ehrenbergh (1801–1843). His paternal grandparents were Pál Rosty de Barkócz (1745–1810), first lieutenant, landowner, member of the Hungarian

Jacobin The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential political cl ...

front, and Anna Nedeczky de Nedecze (1764–1839). His great grandfather was Ferenc Rosty de Barkócz (1718–1790), royal counselor, vice-ispán of the

Vas county Vas (, ; ; or ; ) is an administrative county (Counties of Hungary, comitatus or ''vármegye'') of Hungary. It was also one of the counties of the former Kingdom of Hungary. It is part of the Centrope Project. Geography Vas County lies in weste ...

, and a wealthy landowner during the Age of empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

. Pál Rosty was also, descendant of the ancient and prestigious medieval Hungarian noble

Perneszy family The Perneszy de Osztopán family was an important and prestigious Hungarian noble family which gave many relevant personalities. Its members were high members of the nobility of the Kingdom of Hungary since the 13th century. History History of ...

, which died out in the 18th century. Pál Rosty de Barkócz's nephew was the

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Loránd Eötvös Baron Loránd Eötvös de Vásárosnamény (or simply Loránd Eötvös ; ; ; 27 July 1848 – 8 April 1919), also called Baron Roland von Eötvös in English literature, was a Hungarian physicist. He is remembered today largely for his work on ...

de Vásárosnamény (1848–1919),

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

, engineer and politician, as his mother was Ágnes Rosty de Barkócz (1825–1913), Pál's sister. The young Pál Rosty served as soldier in the Károlyi

hussar A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...

during the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many Revolutions of 1848, European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in ...

against the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

. After the capitulation, Pál escaped from the Hungarian Kingdom and went to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

with the help of his brother in law Agoston Trefort. There he studied biology and chemistry and soon he emigrated to Paris, where he got to known with the art of photography, which he learned and started practicing with great passion. Pál planned then an excursion to the Americas inspired by the experiences and discovering of his friend the old Baron

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...

. Pál left on 4 August 1856 by ship to the United Estates. He was in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, Mexico and then he traveled to the island of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, staying in the

Habana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, staying in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

for a very brief time, and then he left to the countryside to the

Aragua Aragua State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains, jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular beaches are Cata and Choroni. It has Venezuela's first national par ...

state, after receiving the invitation of a local landowner of German origins, Franz Vollmer, who had a state named "''El Palmar''". After two years of travelling he arrived back to Hungary on 26 February 1859. All his experiences, several drawings and plenty pictures were published in this anecdotal memories named "From America" (Pest, 1861). Once he traveled back to Europe, he visited to Berlin in 1859, where he gave personally a copy of his still unpublished memories to his friend Humboldt, who died months later. Since 1861, Pál Rosty de Barkócz was named member of the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...

. Since 1860, he lived in Pest and in his mansion of Dunapentele. In 1870 he became founder member of the Gentlemen's Casino of Dunapentele. From 1872 he was member of the juridic council of the

Fejér county Fejér (, ) is an administrative county in central Hungary. It lies on the west bank of the river Danube and nearly touches the eastern shore of Lake Balaton. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Veszprém, Komárom-Esztergom County ...

. In the decade of the 1870s his health got very weak, and moved definitely to his mansion of Dunapentele. There he died on 7 September 1874.Magyar utazók lexikona. Szerk. Balázs Dénes. Budapest: Panoráma. 1993. He never got married and was the last man descendant of his branch of the Rosty de Barkócz family.

Bibliography

*Szinnyei József: Magyar írók élete és munkái XI. (Popeszku–Rybay). Budapest: Hornyánszky. 1906. *Kenyeres Ágnes (főszerk.): Magyar életrajzi lexikon. Budapest, 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosty de Barkoc, Pal 1830 births 1874 deaths Hungarian Roman Catholics Hungarian nobility