Elementary school

János Sikos moved with his parents to Győrszemere, where he attended elementary school.

Industrial school in Győr

He studied at the industrial school in Győr, where he was among the best.

Military years

In Pécs he was enrolled in the 19th Hungarian Royal Industrial School.

Captivity in Russia

He fights as a corporal in the infantry regiment in Galicia, where he is taken prisoner by the Russians.

Escape from prison camp

He tries to escape from the Caucasus prison camp in an adventurous way, on a bought horse, dressed as a Russian muzhik, but fails.

Krasnoyarsk prison camp

He is taken to the Krasnoyarsk prison camp, but on the way he repairs the transport's steam locomotive.

Vladivostok

In Vladivostok he is already employed by the Russian authorities as a mechanic.

Own service in Harbin

During the Russian Civil War he leaves for Harbin and establishes and runs a motor service.

Settling in Japan

As a liberated prisoner of war he could return home, but leaves for Japan where he sets up a business.

Businessman in Japan

In Japan he makes a name for himself as a successful businessman.

See János Sikos's life path in full by clicking the Zoom in! button.

Birth

Ferenc Hopp was born in 1833 in Fulnek, Czech Republic.

Moves to Pest

Ferenc Hopp studied as an optician apprentice in Pest with his uncle István Calderoni.

Study trip to Vienna

Ferenc Hopp studied as an optician apprentice in Vienna.

Study trip to America

He was sent to New York to further his knowledge as an optician.

Works in Pest again

He settled in Pest with the firm Calderoni & Partners, of which he became director in 1864.

Travels around the world

India was the first stop on his round-the-world trip.

Travels around the world

First visit to China.

Travels around the world

From China he travels on to Japan, where he also buys art.

Collector in Budapest

His rich Far Eastern collection is donated to museums. He died in 1919 in Budapest.

See Ferenc Hopp's life path in full by clicking the Zoom in! button.

Birth

Irén Haár (maiden name Irén Pápa) was born in Vác. Her mother taught her to draw and cook at home.

Art group

She joined the Work Cirlce, which held its first exhibition of working-class photography in Budapest in 1931. She met her future husband, Ferenc Haár, in the Work Circle.

Years in Paris

She and her husband took part in the Paris World Exhibition and set up a photography studio in the French capital.

Moving to Japan

They moved to Japan on the recommendation of a friend.

Resettlement in Japan

The Haár family was expelled by the Japanese government, as "residents of friendly countries".

Moving after the war

The family moves to Kamakura after wartime deprivation.

The Hungarian restaurant in Tokyo

In Tokyo, Irén Haár runs a Hungarian restaurant in The Ginza, which quickly became popular.

Moving to Hawaii

The restaurant had to be sold due to a renovation, and the Haár family moves to Honolulu.

See Irén Pápa's life path in full by clicking the Zoom in! button.

Birth

Béla Széchenyi, the son of the "greatest Hungarian", was born in Pest in 1837.

Elementary education

He began his studies at the Széchenyi estate in Nagycenk with the help of tutors.

University studies

He first studied law at the University of Berlin.

University studies

He continued his legal studies at the University of Bonn.

Beginning of a career in politics

During 1861 he became a member of the reconvened Hungarian Parliament.

Journey to America

He went on a tour of North America with Count Gyula Károlyi. His experiences are published in a book.

Journey to Africa

He travels to Algeria, where he hunts lions. In 1870, he travels to Algeria again.

Asian tour

He sets off on a tour of Asia in the company of geologist Lajos Lóczy.

Asian tour

They travel through India to China.

Asian tour

From China they travel to Japan.

Asian tour

From Japan they travel back to Hungary via Burma.

Public career

He accepted Béla Széchenyi as an honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and was a guard of the crown from 1901 to 1918, until his death.

See Béla Széchenyi's life path in full by clicking the Zoom in! button.

Birth

Ferenc Haár was born in 1908 in Csernátfalu, Transylvania.

Budapest School of Applied Arts

He studied interior design and advertising graphics at the National School of Applied Arts in Budapest. He settled in his profession, but increasingly turned to photography.

Photography career

In the first half of the 1930s, he increasingly made a name for himself as a photographer. He became particularly interested in socio-photography.

Marriage

In 1934 he married Irén Pápa.

Paris years

He and his wife took part in the Paris World Exhibition and set up a photography studio in the French capital.

Moving to Japan

They moved to Japan on the recommendation of a friend. Ferenc Haár quickly settles in and continues his career as a photographer.

Resettlement in Japan

The Haár family is deported by the Japanese government as "friendly country residents".

Moving after the war

Ferenc Haár moves with his family to Kamakura. He is stationed with the occupying American army as an audiovisual consultant.

Social photography in Japan

After the American occupation, he continues his work as a socio-photographer in Japan. In 1956, he works in Chicago.

Moving to Hawaii

In 1959, he moves to Hawaii with his family, where he takes photographs and shoots documentaries.

See Ferenc Haár's life path in full by clicking the Zoom in! button.

Birth

Antal Elked was born in Budapest in 1873 into a family of innkeepers.

Studies

He completed his schooling in Budapest and mastered several world languages.

Credit Lyonnais, Paris

After his military service, he worked in Paris for Credit Lyonnais, where he became acquainted with banking.

London, Russia secondment

He worked at the London branch of Credit Lyonnais and then at a bank in Russia.

Russian recommendation to Shanghai

On the recommendation of Russian Finance Minister Sergei Witte, he was transferred to the Sino-Russian joint bank in Shanghai. A year later, he is involved in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion.

Kobe transfer

In 1902, he is transferred to Kobe: he is in charge of the Japanese branch of the bank, handling the Chinese compensation to Japan.

Yokohama transfer

The Russo-Chinese Bank sends Elked Antal to Portsmouth and St Petersburg, then to Yokohama, to the local branch. Here he is responsible for helping to repatriate Russian prisoners of war captured in the Russo-Japanese War.

Tokyo transfer

As a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he had to leave the Russo-Sino bank, but in Tokyo he takes a job with Mitsui Bussan Kaisha.

Self-employed banker

In 1920 he became self-employed and set up his own financial company.

Business trips worldwide

He made many business trips between the two world wars, accompanied by his wife. This is how he returned to Hungary. Antal Elked died of a sudden illness in 1942.

See Antal Elked's life path in full by clicking the Zoom in! button.

Birth

György Komor was born in Budapest in 1888. His father Izidor Komor, an art collector, and his brother Marcell Komor, an architect.

His schools

Komor György Komor started his education in Budapest, but his family moved to Asia and later studied in Shanghai, where he learned Chinese and Japanese.

Takes over his father's business in Yokohama

He learned the art trade alongside his father and took over the management of the company's Jokohama shop in 1913, which continued to operate during the First World War.

Business success and bankruptcy

His business success led him to open a fashion salon in Tokyo, but he lost his wife and all his property in the great earthquake of 1923.

Return to Budapest

Exhausted by his losses, he left for Budapest.

Return to Japan

He returned to Japan in 1926, where he got a job in the company of a friend.

Hungarian exhibition of crafts and folk art

In 1932, together with Nándor Metzger, he organized the first representative exhibition of Hungarian industry and folk art in Tokyo, which was very popular.

Difficulties during the war

In 1941, Komor's family was accused of espionage, and in 1943 the Japanese government assigned them a forced residence as state agents of "friendly states".

Second new start

Komor only had his house in Yokohama left intact, but his business was again severely damaged. In his new shop he sold souvenirs to the occupying American troops, which proved to be a profitable business.

Foreign trade relations with the USA

He restructured his business in the 1950s, but took advantage of his network of American contacts. He handed his business over to his son in 1963. György Komor died in 1976 in Yokohama.

See György Komor's life path in full by clicking the Zoom in! button.

Birth

Komor Szigfrid Kohn was born Szigfrid in the family of a rabbi. His brother Komor Izidor, father of Komor György.

Journey to Java, then Japan

In 1885, he travels to Java, but at the invitation of his relative Kuhn Móritz, he joins his art dealer's firm and takes over the business in Hong Kong

Business success and near bankruptcy

Komor Izidor is sent to Yokohama to head the local shop. With the firm almost bankrupt, he sets up a separate business, basing his business on German and English-speaking customers.

Exhibition in Budapest

In 1904, the collection of Komor's firm is exhibited at the National Museum in Budapest. Szigfrid Komor gives a lecture on business life in the Far East and the role of Hungarians in it.

Move to Hong Kong

In 1913, he took over his relative's business in Hong Kong. Szigfrid Komor's business in Yokohama is taken over by György Komor. Despite the difficulties, Szigfrid Komor and his family stayed in Hong Kong during the First World War.

Journey to Budapest

He resumed his business activities after the war and went to Budapest to pick up his daughters in 1919.

Extensive business activities

He continued his extensive business activities in Hong Kong.

See Szigfrid Komor's life path in full by clicking the Zoom in! button.

Birth

Nándor Metzger was originally born out of wedlock, but his speller father married his mother and named his son after himself.

Schools

He had a difficult childhood, but learned not only German and English, but also some Slovak. In Budapest, following in his father's footsteps, he trained as a printer. As a teenager, he also learned Chinese and Japanese.

Career opportunities with Japanese

His Japanese language skills gave Nándor Metzger a great career opportunity, but the outbreak of World War I prevented this. In 1918, he was drafted and worked in Vienna as a military English, Japanese, Hungarian and German language examiner for the army.

Becoming a Japanese citizen

After his discharge, he lived in Budapest for a while without a job. In 1920, he was adopted by Vatanabe Hishakichi, and became a Japanese citizen. In 1924, he works at the Japanese Embassy in London, but his wife dies in 1925, plunging him into a crisis of despair.

Personal crisis

In 1924 he works at the Japanese Embassy in London, but his wife dies in 1925, plunging him into a crisis of remorse.

First trip to Japan

Emerging from the crisis, he goes on a lecture tour to Japan in 1929 and reports from there for several Hungarian newspapers.

Hungarian industrial and folk art exhibition

Together with György Komor, they start to organize the first exhibition of Hungarian industry and folk art in Tokyo. Metzger returns home to find supporters: Governor Horthy assures him of his patronage. He returns to Japan with his second wife, but misses the highly successful exhibition.

Business and social success

Nándor Metzger-Vatanabe and his wife settle into Japanese social life. Nándor Metzger is also successful in business. In 1934, he becomes the managing director of the newly founded Hungarian-Japanese Society.

Diplomatic activity and founding of a newspaper

From 1939, he worked at the Hungarian Embassy in Tokyo, then due to the war situation he moved with the mission to Sengokuhara. In 1943, he founded a newspaper called Keletázsiai Magyarság (East Asian Hungarian) to inform the Hungarian colonies. He edits a Hungarian-Japanese dictionary, which is never published.

Leaving Japan

Nándor Metzger's family had to leave Japan, but they settled in Paris instead of Hungary.

American years

They later settled in the United States, where they also died, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

See Nándor Metzger's life path in full by clicking the Zoom in! button.

Birth

Béla Hermann was born in 1887 in Gyöngyös into a Jewish timber merchant's family.

Prisoner of war

After being conscripted, he fought on the Eastern front of the First World War, where he was taken prisoner by the Russians. He is sent to the Berezovka camp.

Career as a dance teacher

In the camp he becomes a member of the dance self-education group and achieves success. As a result, she becomes a dance teacher at the girls' high school in Ulan-Ude as a prisoner of war.

Career as a dance teacher

From a turbulent post-war Russia, prisoners of war would be sent home. Herman would be transported to Vladivostok, but he also takes a job as a dance teacher in Ussuriysk.

Fame in Harbin

He flees the Russian civil war for Harbin, a prominent centre of Russian emigration. He becomes famous for his dancing.

Renowned dance artist in the Far East

In 1922 he gives dance classes in Chingtao and in 1923 in Kobe as a ballet master. By this time he was also a well-known dance artist in Japan.

Unexpected return

In 1926 he travels to Paris to learn new dances, but suddenly returns home and stays in Gyöngyös, where he becomes a respected wood merchant.

Deportation

In the summer of 1944 he is deported to Auschwitz because of his Jewish origin, from where he never returns.

See Béla Hermann's life path in full by clicking the Zoom in! button.