Fifth Generation

22. József OSZTRÓVSZKY was born on 12 January 1818 in Szeged, Csongrád m, HUN.^36,37 The church record shows only a baptism date of 13 Jan -- the birth date of 12 Jan provided by other sources is probably correct. He completed his studies at the Piarist Academy ("gimnázium") in 1836 in Szeged, Csongrád m, HUN.³⁸ He went on to study law in Pozsony. There he often went to study by himself at the nearby home of his uncle, Imre Osztróvszky, the parish priest in Malaczka. In 1839-40 he served as a legislative aide to Antal Somogyi, a member of the lower house of the national parliament which was meeting in Pozsony. He received his law diploma on 24 September 1840, and then returned to his birthplace to open a law office.

He was a major factor in the politics and public affairs of his birth city from 1841.^{39,40,41,42,43} Back in Szeged, he became a board member of Szeged's Casino and the Szeged-Csongrád Savings Bank, and assisted his father in operating Szeged's hospital for the poor. Begging came to an end in Szeged until 1850, when Austria closed such charitable institutions. Politically, he remained a follower of Ferenc Deák and his Liberal Party. At the time Gábor Klauzál (the Liberal leader of southern Hungary) visited Szeged, Osztróvszky made the welcoming speech. Together with Klauzál and others, in 1846 he formally established the Liberal Party of Szeged.

On 14 May 1848, Osztróvszky was elected leader of the Szeged city council. On July 2, he was elected representative of upper and central Szeged to the first popularly-elected national parliament. When the military situation forced the Parliament to move from Buda to Debrecen on 01 January 1849, Osztróvszky went along. He was a signer of Hungary's 14 April 1849 declaration of independence, and shortly after that signing Kossuth's revolutionary government appointed him commissioner for the Csongrád county (including Szeged) district. On April 30, Osztróvszky returned home to take on that assignment. In May 1849, virtually all of Hungary was under the control of the revolutionary government. But, Austria sought Russian assistance against the rebels, which reversed the recent Hungarian battlefield successes.

On July 12, Kossuth and what remained of the Hungarian government fled to Szeged, which became the capital of revolutionary Hungary for a few weeks. In late July, just before Szeged fell, Osztróvszky's wife and child went to Hodmezövásárhély to live with her sister and brother-in-law, Ferdinand Schmidt -- where their daughter (this author's great-grandmother) Mária was born on August 9. Osztróvszky left Szeged for Arad with the retreating army and government. Kossuth resigned the presidency and fled to Turkey on August 12, leaving General Artúr Görgei in charge of the government and the only major revolutionary army still in the field. Osztrovszky was with that army at Világos (near Arad) on 13 August 1849, when Görgei surrendered to the Russian commander.

On 26 September 1850, in Pest, a military tribunal sentenced Osztróvszky to death by hanging for his revolutionary activities. A year passed, during which time he was paroled home and his daughter Vilhelmine (Vilma) was born. On 13 September 1851 his sentence was commuted to imprisonment. On October 7, he was imprisoned at the Josefstadt national prison in Moravia, where both military and political prisoners of the Hungarian rebellion were incarcerated. During his sentence, he was remembered for reading to other prisoners and teaching them the principles of Austrian law. He also carved an intricate altar piece, which today is displayed in Szeged's Fekete Ház musuem.

József was pardoned, and released from Josefstadt Prison on 20 June 1855.⁴⁴ He returned home to Szeged, but was prohibited from practicing law. He became principal agent for a Trieste insurance company, and in 1856-59 he lived in Pest and was a founder and superintendent of the first Hungarian insurance company. As the years of the 1850's ended, Osztróvszky again considered seeking political office. Once again he settled in Szeged, and under an assumed name began writing on legal matters.

In the post-war period, he was an enthusiastic supporter of Deák's efforts to find an acceptable compromise with Austria, and in 1861 was elected the city's mayor. He resigned later that year when compromise talks broke down, and Hungary's constitutional assembly was suspended by Austria.

Following the Compromise of 1867, a new Hungarian constitution came into being and courts were established. He again ran for mayor in Szeged, but lost. In 1869 he was appointed to the "Hétszemélyes Tabla" -- the Board of Seven Men, which was Hungary's highest court -- by Boldizsár Horváth, the Justice Minister. In 1880, he was appointed presiding judge of the Kuria (sister court of the Hétszemélyes Tabla), from which position he retired in 1897. He was honored by the King as a Knight of the Iron Crown second class.

From 1880 until his death, he lived at Damjanich utca 44 in Budapest -- a prestigious apartment house near Pest's City Park. This building was known as the János Xánthus house, since that famous Hungarian explorer maintained his Budapest residence there. It was in this house, following the death of his parents, that this author's grandfather, Gyula Heszlényi (b 1872) was raised by his grandfather József Osztróvszky and his Aunt Vilma.

Shortly after the great flood of 1879, Osztróvszky útca (street) in Szeged is named for him. It was a sign of great respect, that such a commemoration was made during his lifetime.

He died on 22 April 1899 at the age of 81 in Budapest, PPSK m, HUN.^45,46,47,48 In his later years, he enjoyed a six-week vacation in August and September during which he returned to Szeged where he visited friends and relatives, where he and József Heszlényi hunted.

His death notice identifies him as "retired presiding judge of the Kuria, a second degree Knight of the Iron Crown, the 1848 Commissioner for Szeged, its representative in the national parliament, and one-time mayor."

Osztróvszky was buried in the famous old Kerepesi street cemetery, where most 19th century Hungarian notables were interred. In 1968, his grave was moved to the Reformed church cemetery in the town of Pécel, just east of Pest. This was apparently done to make room at Kerepesi for the burial of various "heroes of communism".

According to Szinnyei (1904), "His name will be inseparably connected with the history and development of Szeged" and Ruszoly wrote in 1979, "As there would be no Hungarian history without Lajos Kossuth and Ferenc Deák, so there would be no Szeged history without József Osztróvszky." His life and letters are chronicled in "József Osztróvszky -- Reform, Revolution, Compromise" by Dr. József Ruszoly published in Hungarian in 1993. On 22 April 1999, the 100th anniversary of his death was commemorated in Szeged by speeches at a city hall ceremony. On October 6, a monument -- consisting of a bust of Osztróvszky by the sculptor Jenö Kiss -- was dedicated in a small park at the corner of Csongrádi and Osztróvszky streets in Szeged.

Leopoldina Lujza "Poldi" PALÁSTY and József OSZTRÓVSZKY were married on 21 October 1846 in Algyö, Csongrád m, HUN.⁴⁹ Count Alfons Palavicini (as spelled on the marriage record) was a witness at the wedding.

23. Leopoldina Lujza "Poldi" PALÁSTY⁵⁰ was born on 25 October 1825 in Algyö, Csongrád m, HUN.⁵¹ Her birth record read (in Latin) Leopoldina Ludovica. She was named after Leopoldina Zichy, mother of Count Eduard Pallaviccini -- her father's friend and employer.

In 1848 she was a wartime nurse to the troops. She died on 1 December 1880 at the age of 55 in Budapest, PPSK m, HUN.⁵²

Children were:

	i.	Dezső József Imre OSZTRÓVSZKY was born on 10 February 1848 in Szeged, Csongrád m, HUN.⁵³ His death record says he was born in Szeged Felsöváros in 1847 or early 1848, but a record of his baptism could not be found. Ruszoly gives his birth as 10 Jun 1848 in his 1992 "Délmagyarország" article, but this may be a typographical error. He died on 24 April 1869 at the age of 21 in Pest, PPSK m, HUN.^53,54 He never married. While a second year law student in Budapest, he died of lung disease. He was buried with his grandparents in the cemetery of the Szeged Felsöváros church -- now Dugonics cemetery.
11	ii.	Mária Fáni OSZTRÓVSZKY.
	iii.	Vilhelmine Anna "Vilma" OSZTRÓVSZKY was born on 24 July 1851 in Szeged, Csongrád m, HUN.⁵⁵ Her godparents were her aunt Franciska and her husband Ferenc Haydt (Hadai). Note that this child was born while her father was paroled awaiting his death sentence, which was later commuted to prison. She died on 19 May 1935 at the age of 83 in Szeged, Csongrád m, HUN.⁵⁶ She never married. In 1886 she was living with her father at 44 Damjanich utca in Budapest.
	iv.	Lajos József János "József" OSZTRÓVSZKY^56,57 was born on 16 May 1856 in Szeged, Csongrád m, HUN.⁵⁸ His father was identified as a "fiscalis" -- probably a "financier" -- this birth was soon after József Osztróvszky was released from prison, and he was not permitted to practice law. At the time, the family lived in Szeged Felsóváros house #1008. He was baptized on May 17. The child's godparents were his aunt, Franciska Osztróvszky, and her husband Ferenc Heit (Hadai), a physician. He died on 21 June 1917 at the age of 61 in Budapest, PPSK m, HUN. He was buried with his father in Budapest's Kerepesi cemetary, as was his son Antal. In 1883, he was identified as an engineer working for the government (kir mérnok). Later he was a teacher.
	v.	Lujza OSZTRÓVSZKY⁵⁶ was born about 1859 in Budapest, PPSK m, HUN. She died in 1920 at the age of 61. This woman claimed to be the daughter of this József Osztróvszky. The given names of her children make it very likely that is the case, although she is not identified in either her brother's 1869 obituary, her mother's 1880 obituary, or at Osztróvszky's death in 1899. But, we know that at least one living grandchild (Gyula Heszlényi) was also missing from the latter death notice.
	vi.	Adalbert Sándor OSZTRÓVSZKY was born on 26 February 1862 in Szeged, Csongrád m, HUN.⁵⁹ He was baptized on February 27. His father was identified in Latin as "Sg. D. Josephus Osztróvszkÿ Nobilis" -- the only time Osztróvszky was referred to as a nobleman. The family lived in Szeged Felsóváros house #1162. The godparents were the child's aunt Franciska Osztróvszky and here husband "Sp.D." Ferenc Haday, a medical doctor. He died on 24 May 1863 at the age of 1 in Szeged, Csongrád m, HUN.⁶⁰ He died at the age of 15 months, and was buried on May 25. He was also known as Albert.⁶⁰ He died at the age of 15 months, and was buried on May 25.
	vii.	Jenő Gábor József OSZTRÓVSZKY was born on 15 March 1867 in Szeged, Csongrád m, HUN.⁶¹ He was baptized on March 18. His father was identified as a "hites ugyvéd" -- sworn lawyer who lived at Szeged Felsóváros house #1182. Godparents were József Heszlényi, a citizen, and his father's sister, Franciska Osztróvszky, the widow of Ferenc Haday. He died on 3 October 1867 at the age of 0 in Szeged, Csongrád m, HUN.⁶² He died at age seven months.
	viii.	Kálman Gábor OSZTRÓVSZKY was born on 4 February 1869 in Szeged, Csongrád m, HUN.⁶³ His father was identified as a lawyer living at Szeged Felsóváros house #1182. He was baptized on February 6. Godparents were his aunt Katalin Palásty and her husband, Nándor Schmid. He died before 1880 at the age of 11.

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