History Talks: Adventurer from Slovakia who became a British spy

A short story about the first European who survived a trip to western and central Asia.

In this postcard from the 1950s, we can see the main street of Dunajská Streda, where Ármin Vámbéri grew up.In this postcard from the 1950s, we can see the main street of Dunajská Streda, where Ármin Vámbéri grew up. (Source: Branislav Chovan)

One of the more interesting historical personalities of the 19th century was Ármin Vámbéry, who grew up in the town of Dunajská Streda. Born to a poor Jewish family in 1832 in Svätý Jur, with the name Hermann Wamberger, he later changed his name to sound more Hungarian (the predominant language there at the time) in Dunajská Streda, southern Slovakia.

Dunajská Streda used to be an important Jewish centre at that time.

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He attended the local school until age 12, when he had to leave in order to work. When he became a tutor, however, his friends helped him attend a gymnasium (academic school, Ed.). By the age of 16, he had a good knowledge of a number of languages, eventually speaking 12 languages with fluency. He also studied oriental languages, in particular Turkish.

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Vámbéry put his linguistic passion to use when, as an enthusiastic admirer of the Orient, he made his first trip to Asia in 1857, and a second one in 1861-1864. His language fluency was so high he was able to travel under disguise as a Sunni dervish (Muslim monk, Ed.).

Vámbéry can be considered the first European who completed a trip to western and central Asia, visiting such countries as Armenia, Persia, and Turkestan. Moreover, he travelled there at a time when the region still retained its mediaeval character and independence. The year after his return he published a book about his travels in both English and Hungarian, adding to his list of extensive publications.

Shortly after Vámbéry returned, the area he had travelled in fell under the sphere of ever-expanding Russia, and this was probably a factor behind Vámbéry’s visit to London, where fear of Russian expansion prevailed. He was, in 2005, discovered to have been an agent of promoting British policies in Asia, opposing Russia. The Guardian writes that this professor of oriental languages at the Budapest university was one of the British secret service's first foreign agents. According to historians, Vámbéry was always after money.

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In 2005, Gill Bennett, the Foreign Office chief historian, described the adventurer as "a sort of near eastern pimp".

Moreover, Vámbéry is said to have introduced Irish writer Bram Stoker to the Dracula legend during a dinner at London's Beefsteak Club in 1890, the Guardian notes.

In this postcard from the 1950s, we can see the main street of Dunajská Streda, where Vámbéry grew up. In the town, we can find a square, two statues, and a school named after him.


This story was first published by The Slovak Spectator on June 9, 2014. We have updated the piece to make it relevant for today.

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