A cegei Wass család története (16–20. század)

The History of the Family Wass de Cege in the 16th–20th Centuries

W. Kovács, András

Kovács Kiss Gyöngy

Egyed Emese

Ilyés Szilárd-Zoltán

Kerekes György

Kovács András

Szász Alpár Zoltán

Tánczos Vilmos

Veress Károly

Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület

2013-01-23T07:58:06Z

2013-01-23T07:58:06Z

2004

2004

Wass család

családtörténet

leszármazás

bírtokok

családfa

leszármazott

örökös

The Wass family is one of the oldest families in Transylvania, their lineage can be traced without interruption from the beginning of the 14th century. (About their early history see: Erdélyi Múzeum 2004/1–2. 1–40.) György Wass, was the first member of the family playing a political role in the life of the forming Transylvanian Principate. He was donated several estates in the Mezőség, such as Záh (Torda county) or Velkér (Kolozs county). Under the princes rising from the Báthori family, György Wass became in the last quarter of the 16th century comes of Kolozs county, captain of Szamosújvár, and councillor of the prince. He did not agree with prince Zsigmond Báthori (1588–1602), who breaking with the Ottoman-friendly policy preferred the Habsburgs, therefore he was imprisoned, where – in order to avoid execution – in 1594 he committed suicide. In spite of that, his sons went on taking part in the political life of Transylvania. One of them, János (†1635) having been brought up by the Jesuits, became a convinced Catholic in such times when the Catholic Church was barely tolerated in the Principate. Except for him all the Wass descendents were Calvinists until the mid 19th century, and many of them studied in the famous colleges of Nagyenyed and Kolozsvár. György Wass (1658 or 1659–1705) played role in the political events of the late 17th and early 18th centuries when the so far independent Transylvanian Principate was put under Habsburg control. During that process he went to Vienna for several times in order to negotiate with the Habsburg government. Not much later he joined the uprising against the Habsburgs led by Ferenc Rákóczi (1704–1711). Both himself and his son László (1696–1738) kept a diary, which are now important sources referring to the Transylvanian political and social history of that time. Dániel Wass (1674–1741), just like his above mentioned relative, left the Habsburgs’ side in order to join Rákóczi. Dániel’s sons, Miklós, György and Ádám were donated a title by empress Maria Theresa (1740–1780). Throughout the 18th century the family possessed estates in Northern Hungary as well, and lived partly there, partly in Transylvania. However, in the first part of the 19th century the Wass got settled definitively on the Transylvanian estates. One of the representative members of the family in that century was Samu Wass (1814–1879), who after fighting in the Revolution of 1848–1849 went into exile. He spent considerable time in California, where together with another Hungarian exile he opened a gold-mine, obtained the authorization of the government and had dollars minted. Only in 1858 was he allowed to turn back home. Some of the Wass were members of the Parliament in the 19th century, or held positions in government offices. Three branches of the family lived to enter the 20th century. Two branches had been living at Cege, and both of them died out on male line before the Second World War. Each of the two had a castle there, although only the smaller one survived. The third one had it’s residence at Szentgothárd. The writer Albert Wass (1908–1998) belonged to this branch. In 1945 he flew to Germany then settled down in the United States, nevertheless he was sentenced to death by the communist Tribunalul Poporului (an exceptional court called Peoples Court) in his absence in 1946. The castle of Szentgothárd had been destroyed after the war. Somewhat before 1920, Béla Wass (1853–1936) deposited the family archives in the collection of the Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület (Transylvanian Museum Society). Ottilia Wass (1829–1917) gave his house in Kolozsvár to the Society; both donations have been confiscated by the state. After World War II the family was forced to emigrate, first having been deprived of all their possessi ons. Since then the male line has been living in the United States and in Germany, the other one, the female line lives in Austria. A family tree is annexed to the study, which informs about the family lineage from the 16th century until present.

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1453-0961

http://hdl.handle.net/10598/25715

Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület

Erdélyi Múzeum LXVI, 2004. 3-4. füzet

Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület