Ármin Vámbéry
| Ármin Vámbéry | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
19 March 1832 Szentgyörgy, Hungary, Austrian Empire (today Svätý Jur, Slovakia) |
| Died | 15 September 1913 (aged 81) Budapest, Austria-Hungary |
| Occupation | Turkologist, orientalist, traveller |
Ármin Vámbéry, also known as Arminius Vámbéry (19 March 1832 – 15 September 1913), was a Hungarian Turkologist and traveller.
Vámbéry was born as Hermann Bamberger or Ármin Bamberger in Szentgyörgy, Hungary, Austrian Empire (now Svätý Jur in Slovakia), into a poor Jewish family. According to Ernst Pawel, a biographer of Theodor Herzl, as well as Tom Reiss, a biographer of Kurban Said, Vámbéry's original last name was Wamberger rather than Bamberger. He was raised Jewish, but later became an atheist. Vámbéry was 1 year old when his father died and the family moved to Dunaszerdahely (now Dunajská Streda in Slovakia). He attended the local school until the age of 12 and showed a remarkable aptitude for learning languages. He was forced to walk with crutches because of a congenital disorder and eventually had to leave school due to difficult financial circumstances. He worked briefly as a tailor's assistant, but after becoming tutor to the son of the village innkeeper, he was enabled by his friends to enter the "Untergymnasium" of Szentgyörgy.
By the age of sixteen, he had a good knowledge of Hungarian, Latin, French, and German. He was also rapidly acquiring English, the Scandinavian languages, Russian, Serbian, and naturally other Slavic languages.
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