István Hatvani (1718–1786)

The ‘witching’ polymath

István Hatvani was outstanding even among Debrecen’s famous professors. Natural historian, teacher, physician and philosopher, he studied at foreign universities with financial support from Debrecen and earned degrees as a pastor and physician. Many times he was invited to teach abroad, yet he remained lyal to the town of Debrecen, were he served as a professor at the Reformed College for 37 years.

Hatvani was the first to teach experimental physics with the help of electrostatic equipment purchased from abroad. As the first chemistry teacher in the country, his chemical experiments also garnered awe.

He single-handedly established mathematical statistics in Hungary and determined Debrecen’s geographical location on an astronomical basis. He published a book on the medicinal effect of thermal waters and had a successful physician’s practice, too, as well as being the supervisor of Bihar county’s chemist’s shops and serving as judge of the county court. He supervised the College library and worked as a pastor. His Latin-language articles appeared in foreign journals, securing a place for Debrecen on the scholarly map of Europe. His electrostatic and chemical experiments and artificially generated discharges earned for him the epithet ‘witching’ used by Debrecen’s populace, which was rather poorly versed in sciences at the time. The polymath, also called the Hungarian Faust, became the protagonist of many a literary and pulp fictional work: János Arany, Mór Jókai, Kálmán Mikszáth, among others, immortalised his figure and his work.