He was born in Hungary on 20 September, 1874, son of Mihály Kemény and father to Tibor Kemény. He was also a mathematical genius, wrote poems, played the violin and the piano and painted landscapes. He was a forestry engineer by profession. In the 20th century he worked, among other places, in the town of Fiume and was responsible for regulating the Frans Channel (Ferenc-csatorna), connected to the Danube river. Thanks to this regulation, the channel could be used for shipping. He founded the barracks in the town of Baja/Vaskút. The ground was marshy and unsuitable for construction before the he accepted the commission to drain the land. The barracks are still there today. Besides the Hungarian language, he mastered Serbo-Croatian and German. His great interests were science, history and politics. He died in Baja in 1962.

vitéz Kemény Simon 1884-1945

Crucified Messiah, 1935 Self portrait 1938

He was born in Hungary on 5 November, 1884, brother of Lajos Kemény. He was a publicist, writer, poet, journalist/editor, sculptor and teacher of languages. Besides the Hungarian language, he mastered Serbo-Croatian, German, Latin, Ancient Greek and Hebrew. He was all-round. He was a sculptor and a painter and had several exhibitions in for example Bajmok, Tirgu Mures and Sombor. In Sombor, he received a diploma, the year was 1901. He took part in the First World War and in 1917 he was promoted from being an ordinary soldier directly to the rank of lieutenant. After the war he came to Szeged, where he was appointed deputy editor and editor of several newspapers. In 1921 he was dubbed ‘vitéz’ (knight) by the then Head of State Miklós Horthy. He was the third person to be thus honoured, after Horthy’s sons. Everybody who had performed excellently in the war received the honorary title of ‘vitéz’ before the surname. In the autumn of 1921 he also successfully took part in the West Hungarian rebellious struggle.

In 1928 he moved with his family to Baja to become editor of the local newspaper. In 1930 he started his private newspaper, dealing with, among other topics, politics, arts, history and literature. Simultaneously he worked as a teacher of languages and history. He also produced hand-made furniture and wood fittings for bedrooms and living rooms, for his daughters’ dowries. He also wrote poems and plays which have been staged in both Hungary and the US. His poems were mostly patriotic and in particular two of his poems, ‘My Soul’ and ‘The Chessboard’ reflect his past. He has appeared in several broadcasts on Hungarian radio and his poems are published in Hungary. His great interests were science, history and politics. He was shot together with his youngest son in Bátaszék where he was a commander during the Second World War.


The town of Baja and its centre The blue and yellow town of Baja in the thirties and twilight over the Danube.

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