Mihály Kakasdi Hajós
Mihály Kakasdi Hajós was born on 15th September, 1836, into a noble family from Cojocna (Hungarian: Kolozs) in Transylvania. He was an outstanding personality in the history of Dolnja Lendava, and he became known, among other things, as the founder of the formal town council, the founder of the local volunteer fire brigade and a supporter of the establishment of the town´s railway connections.
Young Kakasdi graduated from law school and became a lawyer. Until the early 1870s, he worked in Tapolca where, among other things, he founded one of Hungary's first fire brigades. When Dolnja Lendava became a district seat and received a district court, Kakasdi won one of its legal posts, so he moved to the town of Dolnja Lendava in 1872. He soon became involved in the social life of the settlement where he founded a volunteer fire brigade as early as 1873 and became the initiator and leader of several social associations and movements. He was one of the greatest supporters of the founding of a savings bank that greatly served the development of the town – it was founded in 1873 – and he was a member of its board for decades.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the railway that crossed the town and connected Dolnja Lendava to other parts of the country and the wider region. Kakasdi was also the leader of the movement which wanted the town to establish a formal council. As a token of gratitude, the town gave him a perpetual town council mandate. For several years he was president of the State School´s school board and the association called Vízlecsapoló Társaság (Water Drainage Society in English) of the Lendava Valley, but he was also a founding member of the Hungária Umbrella Factory in Dolnja Lendava. Kakasdi later received the title of Royal Counsellor and was the initiator and leader of several other social associations and movements.
Mihály Kakasdi Hajós passed away on 10th August, 1912, in Lendava; his remains are buried in the Chapel of the Holy Trinity on top of Lendava Hill. The house once home to his family still stands on Lendava´s Glavna ulica, bearing a memorial plaque on its façade which pays tribute to the former eminent personality that used to live there.
Bibliography, image source:
Göncz László 2003. Kakasdi Hajós Mihály, a polgári fejlődés alsólendvai élharcosa. Šimonka Tanja (ed.). Dolnja Lendava v obdobju meščanstva 1867–1945. Az alsólendvai polgárosodás korszaka 1867–1945. Murska Sobota: Solidarnost, p. 79–81.
https://www.rtvslo.si/mmr/hirek/alsolendvai-tablo/kakasdi-hajos-mihaly/628986
