Déryné
| Déryné Róza Széppataki | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
December 23, 1793 Jászberény, Hungary |
| Died | September 27, 1872 (aged 78) Miskolc, Hungary |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1815 - 1847 |
Déryné [Mrs. Déry] Róza Széppataki, born as Rozália Schenbach, commonly known as Déryné (23 December 1793, Jászberény - 29 September 1872, Miskolc) was the first acclaimed female opera singer of Hungary and the best known actress of early Hungarian theater.
Rozália Schenbach was born as the daughter of Josef Schenbach, an apothecary from Vienna settled in Jászberény, and Nina Riedl. Schenbach died five years later, and Róza's mother, left with two little girls, and six boys from his previous marriage found it increasingly hard to maintain their livelihood. As a woman, she was not allowed to run the apothecary alone, and the municipality sent often replaced overseers to help in the business, which resulted in poor management. One of them, Mr. Gruber told wonderful tales of Theatre in Budapest to the young girl, who started to dream about joining the world of actors, even if she had never seen a play before. As another tragedy, three of Rozália's half-brothers died during these years. Soon they had to sell the shop, and the 16-year-old Rozália followed her older half-brothers to the capital, who were already working there. She was taken care by an old friend of the family, Mr. Rothkrepf. He was the one who took the young girl to her first theatrical play, after which she desperately began to try to join the show, sneaking in the dressing rooms multiple times. When the widow Mrs. Schenbach learnt of this, she went personally to Pest to take her girl, "seduced by the corrupt morals of the city", back to Jászberény. Much debate and quarrel followed, after which the mother finally gave up. A letter came from a Hungarian troupé in Pest that asked the mother, if she agrees, to let the girl join them. A one-year-long contract was worked out, and Rozália joined the National Playing Company of Pest.
Waiting behind the curtains for her first small role, the older actresses denied the play supervisor to let her on stage as she "looked and acted foolishly". Crying for days after this first disappointment, Rozália was taken in the care of Mrs. and Mr. Murányi, who introduced her to the basics of acting. One month after her first ill-fated play, she took her first role in a light-hearted comedy on 8. April 1810. Success slowly started to come. After the advice of director József Benke she translated her last name to Széppataki, and began to took role as actress, figurant and sang also in choirs.
As a remain of the Middle Ages, at the time in Pest theater and drama was looked down upon, and was usually pursuited by Germans, in German; the Hungarian troupé had a hard time fighting traditions. Aided by the social shift of the Reform period of the early 19th century, opening the doors of city mansions and country chateaus was a slow process. The growing audience could only be kept by a fastly changing repertoire, requiring rigorous, hard work.
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