2025.07.04.
József Bartóky was born in 1865 (27 November).
His father, István Bartóky was a wealthy farmer, his mother was Jolán Szulimán.
József Bartóky began his studies in Csaba, at the Evangelical Grammar School of the Apostolic Faith, and completed the last four grades in Szarvas. After graduating from high school, he studied law in Pest and Oradea, and then worked as an intern for a lawyer.
From 1890 he worked in Békés county as a slave magistrate, then as chief slave magistrate in Orosháza, later as chief notary. From 1897 he was an official of the Ministry of Agriculture, from 1904 he was a ministerial advisor, and from 1910 until his retirement he was a state secretary.
During his tenure, he drafted all the social bills of the agricultural government from 1898 onwards. He initiated the building of workers' housing, organised the Agricultural Workers' Fund, the Labour Exchange and wrote books on professional law. He is credited with laying the foundations of Hungarian folk education and establishing municipal folk libraries.
József Bartóky married Julianna Székács in 1893, and they had two daughters, Magda and Melinda.
József Bartóky's connection to Békéscsaba was legendary. He often visited his relatives and acquaintances in Csaba. When he came home, he would meet old acquaintances in the Fiumé or on its terrace, and he always had a few kind words for them.
His ambitions as a fiction writer appeared early, his short stories and short stories were published between 1885 and 1891 in the Békésmegyei Közlöny, Ország-Világ and Hét, but his fiction work only took off after his retirement. His first short stories were published under the pseudonym Pál Senki. His first volume (Magyar fabulák, 1921) was published as a collection of stories, with which he became known, but he was essentially a short story writer. In the 1920s, he published a succession of short story collections, mostly on themes drawn from rural and official life.
"His writing and his human being were the personification of one of the most congenial and noble types of Hungarian gentleman" - wrote Aladár Schöpflin.
His work was recognised by the award of the Order of Franz Joseph, the Star Cross and the Order of the Austrian Imperial Iron Crown, III Class.
He was the first president of the founding Association of Alumni of Szarvas and an honorary member of the Association of Alumni of Csaba. He made an invaluable contribution to the building of the Catholic Church in Zebegény. Through his connections he provided the construction with 15 thousand crowns of state aid.
József Bartóky 14 July 928 died in Budapest. His funeral was held in the Kerepesi cemetery. In Békéscsaba, a street bore his name between 1929 and 1949.
