Főszolgabírói mulatságok (Társasági élet és szórakozás Olchváry Pál naplójában)
The Amusements of a Chief District Administrator. Social Life and Entertainment in the Diary of Pál Olchváry

Summary/Abstract: Pál Olchváry, the chief district administrator of the Dada district in Szabolcs County kept a diary between 1922 and 1938. This study, covering the period until 1929, analyses how the diary depicts the work of Olchváry as a chief district administrator, while focusing on the information about social life. Pál Olchváry was an educated, open-minded man who always took an interest in new things. Books and newspapers played an important role in his life. According to his diary he consciously expanded his library which, by the end of the examined period, consisted of almost a thousand volumes. He was the subscriber of several Hungarian and foreign-language newspapers and periodicals. He was among the first to buy a radio and for a while he owned a car as well. The chief district administrator lived in Gáva, the seat of the district, and suffered a lot from village life and its uneventfulness. It was social life that made life bearable for him. His network of relationships was organised in the spirit of ‘upward mobility’; it was diverse and primarily involved the neighbouring landowners. Among his family members his brother Zoltán was the most influential in his life; it was him who introduced Pál Olchváry to the social life of Debrecen. He cultivated only a few, but very close friendships in Gáva. In the examined period he did not travel abroad, but because of his official duties he often visited the capital. When in Budapest and in the other two important cities in his life (Nyíregyháza and Debrecen) he frequented the theatres and cinemas. Because of his rank Olchváry was member of several associations and organisations. His own curiosity made him join different political organisations and as a member of the local and political elite he enrolled in three Casinos.

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