- Károly Doncsecz
Infobox Artist
bgcolour =
name = Károly Doncsecz
imagesize = 250px
caption = Károly Doncsecz in 1987
birthname =
birthdate = ab.May 30 ,1918
location =Orfalu ,Kingdom of Hungary
deathdate =November 12 ,2002
deathplace =Körmend ,Hungary
nationality = Hungarian Slovenian
field = Ceramics
training =
movement =
works =
patrons =
influenced by =Balázs Badár and other potters
influenced =
awards =Master of Folk Art Award, 1984,
"Ágoston Pável Memorial plaquette,"
"Congress VIII. of HNF" Award, 1985,
Order Vitéz 2001Károly Doncsecz ( _sl. Karel Dončec) was a Slovene potter in
Hungary and in 1984 he received the award "Master of folk art " for his work. Doncsecz was born in Orfalu, (Vas country).He graduated from the apprenticeship in
Magyarszombatfa andZalaegerszeg ,Sümeg (Zala country), afterSzentgotthárd .From 1940 on Doncsecz lived and worked in
Kétvölgy , (Vas County). Since the 1970s, he was the only Slovene potter in Hungary. His potter works were presented in numerous exhibits all over Hungary andSlovenia . When he was still alive, travel groups from the motherland Slovenia often visited him in his kétvölgyian workshop, and Doncsecz did not only tell about his craft, but also about biographies of man Slovenes from theRaba region in his mother tongue.Early life
Károly Doncsecz was born in
Orfalu . His parents were well off farmers of Slovenian origin. Both his father, Károly Dancsecz (1894-1927) and his mother, Anna Talabér (1900-1920) were born in Orfalu. He had a brother, István, who emigrated to and settled down inCanada in the 1960s.The brothers lost their parents very early. Their mother died while giving birth. Their father died seven years later of pulmonary disease. The brothers were raised by their grandfather, István Dancsecz (1871-1932) for a while.
When he was young, Károly worked for a turner in Orfalu. Originally he wanted to be a tailor but he got familiar with pottery in
Apátistvánfalva at a potter called Károly Kürnyek who suggested to choose this trade. He went to Magyarszombatfa at the age of 15 in 1933. He was an apprentice of János Zsohár for 3 years and he studied the bases of the trade here. Later, most of his pieces of works showed a lot a similarity with the Magyarszombatfa style of pottery. The most difficult one was the Mowerjug ("„bugyogakorsó”"). From 1937 to 1938 he worked for Lajos Németh in Zalaegerszeg, then he went to István Adorján, a potter who lived Sümeg. He is thought to learn the patterns of the Great Plain here, and he was also influenced byBalázs Badár (1854-1939), a famous potter fromMezőtúr . During the years he collected ceramics fromVendvidék ,Őrség , Transdanubia (Dunántúl) and the Great Plain, and he used them as samples. Later he displayed them on a shelf in his store with his first ceramics together.In 1939 he lived in
Szentgotthárd for a short while and he worked for János Kerécz, then he went back home to Orfalu and he married Anna Gáspár (1920-1984). They had 3 sons together. The youngest son, Károly Doncsecz jr. (1949-2005) became a potter too. However, he went to trade school he learned pottery mostly from his father.He moved to "Permise" (later called Kétvölgy) after inheriting a house from his wife’s parents. The house used to be a pub before.
He was enlisted in 1942 and was sent to Kolozsvár (Cluj Napoca), but he was transported to
Ukraine soon and he fought in the battles near Stanislaw (today "Ivano-Frankivsk",Ukraine ). In 1944 when their troops were withdrawing they were attacked by the British near Kolomea (todayKolomia , Ukraine) inPoland . He managed to escape, but he was soon captured by the Soviets and was deported toCzechoslovakia (nowCzech Republic ). He escaped and got throughSlovakia but he was captured inGyőr again. Luckily he was shortly released, so he could go back home.Besides pottery he was farming too. He was a driver to Zala county and he was a regular vendor of the "Őrségi Vásár" ("Őrségian Market") in
Őriszentpéter .He was an acknowledged potter of the
Association of Hungarian South Slavics and later of theAssociation of Hungarian Slovenes . In 1984 he was given the prize of "Master of Folk Art" byBéla Köpeczi , the then minister of civilization.He had a lot of visitors coming not only from all over the country, but also from abroad, manly from Slovenia, although he also had some German and French visitors too. In 2001 he was given the Order of Vitéz for his military service. He never used this title though.
At the end of his life he was often ill, which jeopardized his work too. He died in the hospital in Körmend at the age of 84. With his death the pottery of Vendvidék vanished.
He was buried at Istvánfalvian Cemetery.
Awards
*"Live Exhibition of Folk art in Körmend" Award, 1978.
*"Handicraft Exhibition in Szentgotthárd" charter, 1978.
*KIOSZ silver ring, 1978.
*KIOSZ charter, 1982.
*Master of Folk Art , 1984.
*"Ágoston Pável Memorial plaquette"
*"Congress VIII. of HNF" Award, 1985.
*To the Raba country honours, 1999.
*Order Vitéz 2001.External links
* [http://vendvidek.com/hires/hireseke.html Further famous personalities: Károly Doncsecz]
*Francek Mukič - Marija Kozar: Slovensko Porabje, Mohorjeva družba,Celje 1982.
*Kozar, Marija: "Mojster ljudske umetnosti – Karel Dončec" Slovenski koledar,Szombathely 1986.
*Mária Kozár: Etnološki slovar Slovencev na Madžarskem, Monošter-Szombathely, 1996. ISBN 963 7206 620
*Francek Mukič - Marija Kozar: Spoznavanje slovenstva, Croatica,Budapest 2002. ISBN 963 9314 31 1
*Mária Kozár: The Hungarian Slovenes, Press Publica, Changing world, ISBN 963 9001 83
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