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The Zichy Family

Zichys are one of the oldest Hungarian families. We can see tehm from 1270, when the first known ancestor is mentioned in relation to the property in the village Zajk, in Zala county. As time went, family deversify in various lines, and branches acquired estates in several counties of Hungary. Rusovec's line is important when we speak about Voderady. Stefan Zichy (born in 1715) owned beside others also estate of Rusovce (Oroszvár, Karlburg in Mošon county). He had seven childrens. One of them, his son František (1751-1812) founded Voderady's line of Zychy family. František and his brothers acquired a manor house with the accompanying lands from their relative František Zichy, the Rába bishop in 1773. By exchange he also acquired part of Voderady's estate from his brother Karol. The Zichy family was probably the most significant Voderady's owners in known history. In 19th century beside Voderady estate, they owned also other estates at villages Slovenská Nová Ves, Báhoň, Majcichov, Pusté Úľany, Sládkovičovo and Malá Mača. By the end of 19th century the area of their possessions extended to 4190 hectares.

František Zichy (1751 – 1812) – the founder of the Zichy family branch was an administrator of Orava Dominion. From 1774 he was the chamberlain, and between 1777 and 1782 he was an administrator of Békes County and in 1784 of Pesth County too. Besides, between 1785 and 1792 he was the head of the county, by 1790 the governor of Zemplín County and from 1792 the head of Vesprém County and the director of Orava Dominion. He worked as a regular Hungarian royal counsellor. Between 1790 and 1792 he acted in various committees of the regional congress. From among his sons František Jozef (1774 – 1861) and Charles III. (1785 – 1876) are worth mentioning. After Charles III. A new Cífer branch evolved out of the Voderady Zichy family.

František Jozef Zichy (1774 – 1861). In 1809 he took part in the uprising of 

the Estates in Vesprém County and later in wars against Napoleon. He was a judge of Sedmipánska Court Board. Between 1813 and 1814 he was a royal war tax collection and army provisioning commissar. Between 1822 and 1825 he was the governor of Gemer County, then between 1824 and 1861 the director of Orava Dominion, between 1825 and 1836 the head of Bihar County. From 1848 he was the main trustee, the chamberlain and a real interior secret counsellor. Between 1836 and 1848 he was a member of the Upper House of the Hungarian Parliament. He was decorated with the Cross of Leopold Order and the King Štefan. In Bratislava, František Jozef Zichy had an orphanage built. He founded the archives of the Voderady Zichy familly branch, which was stored up in Zichy House in Bratislava.

František Zichy (1811 – 1900) was another important descendant of the Zichy family. He graduated from the Law Faculty in Pesth. By 1833 he was a vice-notary public of Pesth County and from the same year he was a Hungarian Court Office secretary in Viena. In 1839 he became the vice-governor of Rijeka and from 1841 he was the president of the Bill of Exchange Court in Bratislava. Besides, he was the director of the central railway company. In 1847 he was the president of the Hungarian Council of Governors and the secret councellor. In 1848 he was appointed as a secretary at the Hungarian Ministry of Transport, from 1851 he was the Imperial Counsellor and from 1854 the Main Court Master of the archduke Maximilián, the Chief Governor of Lombardy and Venice. He was the Head of the Novohradsko County, between 1874 and 1879 he worked as the Austro-Hungarian ambassador in Istambul. He endeavoured to create the first savings bank in Bratislava and he was a co-organizer of the horse railway construction from Bratislava to Trnava. In the revolutionary years between 1848 and 1849 he was appointed as the main commissar of Bratislava County and the main district commissar of Nitra, Trenčín, Orava, Turča, and Liptov Counties. Later on he was appointed as the main commissar in the Russian Army. From 1888 he was a Member of the Hungarian Parliament and between 1892 and 1896 the president of its Financial Committee. In 1854 he was decorated with the Iron Crown Order of the first degree and in 1879 with the Cross of St. Štefan Order. In 1849, in his instigation, there was established Slovak as the official language in Skalica and some other Slovak towns.

Jozef Zichy (1841 – 1924) was another important representative of the Voderady Zichy branch. He graduated from the Law Academy in Bratislava as well as from the University in Viena. He was employed in the service of Hungarian Royal Curia. Between 1867 and 1869 he was a counselor at the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce in Budapest. Between 1870 and 1872 he was a royal commissar. Later on he was the governor of Rijeka, between 1872 and 1874 he worked as the minister of agriculture, industry and commerce, and between 1873 and 1875 he was simultanously the minister of labour and transport in Budapest. Between 1889 and 1893 he was the head of the Bratislava County and between 1891 and 1893 the temporary head of Trenčín County at the same time. Between 1868 and 1870 as well as between 1872 and 1875 he was a Member of the Hungarian Parliament and a Member of its Upper House. In 1873 Count Jozef Zichy was decorated with the Iron Crown Order of the first degree. He died just after the First World War. Since then the original area of Voderady Dominion started declining. With the death of his son Július Zichy there died out the Voderady branch of Zichy family on the spear-side. 

The daughter of Jozef Zichy, Klára, married the Croatian count Štefan Keglevič in 1907, with whom she had a daughter, Magdaléna. Magdaléna, along with her parents, left the village shortly before the arrival of the Soviet front in 1945.

The Zichy family did not reside in the Voderady manor year-round, as they would leave for Budapest during the winter. Every first week of November, they would bid farewell to Voderady in the presence of invited friends. They organized large celebrations, including fireworks, during the St. Stephen's Day festivities. They also hosted lavish celebrations during hunting events.

 The Zichy Family

Čambálová, Daniela a kol. Voderady 1243–1993. Voderady: Obecný úrad 1993.