Page - 341 - in Österreich-Ungarns imperiale Herausforderungen - Nationalismen und Rivalitäten im Habsburgerreich um 1900

© 2020, V&R unipress GmbH, Göttingen ISBN Print: 9783847110606 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737010603 Nevertheless, suchaclose-knitvarietyof theruleof thenobilitywasunusual in most part of the country, especially in the thriving urban centers, and it established a social distance with the center. But this social distance was re- inforcedatthelowerendofthesocial ladderaswell.Maramures‚wasthehomeof a large,OrthodoxJewishpopulation,whowereonthewhole ratherpoor, anda significant part of whichwas active in agriculture; this was a peculiar social profileforJewsinHungary.ThenobleeliteofMaramures‚usedseveralmeansfor preserving its dominant position; this process involved a certain amount of adaptation to the requirements ofmodernization. The first of those was self- reproductionthrougheducation,mostnotably throughlawdegrees.Graduating fromalawschoolalsomeantadegreeinStaatswissenschaft(Studyofthestate),a rathersymbolicone,but it still representedanexclusiveclaimbylawgraduates onpositionsintheadministration.ManyofthenobleoffspringfromMaramures‚ attended the Budapest or Kolozsv#r (Cluj, Klausenburg) universities, but the county had its own law school, too. The Calvinist churchmaintained a high school anda so-calledAcademyofLaw(in fact a lawcollege) inSighetulMar- mat‚ieiandbothinstitutionswerequitepopularones.NotonlyCalvinistfamilies senttheirchildrenthere,butJewsandGreekCatholics,too–thelatterdespitethe fact that the languageof instructionwasHungarian.26 Asthegraduatesfromthelawschoolweremostlyfamilymembersofthelocal nobility,andastheysoughtemploymentinthecountyandcityadministrations, it was not surprising that these institutions conferred significant prestige on their teachers, even if theywere fromwithout the region.GergelyGyörgy, for example, was born in SatuMare (Szatm#rn8meti, Sathmar), graduated in Bu- dapest,andstartedtoteachinSighetulMarmat‚iei in1900asassistantprofessor afterhespentayearasajudge.From1902hewasfullprofessor,andbeginningin 1914 hewas the deputy director of the Academy of Law. The prestige of this positionisreflectedinfurtherpositionsheheld.Hewas,amongothers,chairof theeducationsectionoftheMaramures‚CountyCulturalAssociation,memberof the board of trustees at the local civic boys’ school, member of the board of directors at the state teacher training school inSighetulMarmat‚iei,memberof thepermanentcommitteeof thecountycongregation,andamemberof thecity council.HewasalsolaysuperintendentoftheMaramures‚CalvinistDiocese,and veryactive inprofessional andcultural associationsatnational level, too.27 26 B8laBalogh,Am#ramarossziget reform#tus l&ceumtört8nete,Debrecen2013. 27 Am#ramarosszigetiref. lyceumjogakad8mia,fo˝gimn#zium8sintern#tus8rtes&to˝jeaz1916– 17-es tan8vro˝l, M#ramarossziget 1917; Am#ramarosszigeti ref. lyceum jogakad8mia, fo˝- gimn#zium 8s intern#tus 8rtes&to˝je az 1916–17-es tan8vro˝l,M#ramarossziget 1918;M#ra- marosiKözmu˝velo˝d8si Egylet,M#ramaros 8. July 1917, p. 1;V#rosaty#kv#laszt#sa,M#ra- maros,20.December1917. RegionalElites,NationalistPolitics, LocalAccommodations 341