MAKING THE MAN OF LAW IN DUALIST HUNGARY: ALEXA DAVID’S CAREER STRATEGIES AND PERSONAL NETWORKS ON THE EVE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
MAKING THE MAN OF LAW IN DUALIST HUNGARY: ALEXA DAVID’S CAREER STRATEGIES AND PERSONAL NETWORKS ON THE EVE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: Making the Man of Law in Dualist Hungary: Alexa David’s Career Strategies and Personal Networks on the Eve of the Twentieth Century. The present study focuses on the educational and professional pathway of Alexa David, one of the law graduates hailing from the land of Năsăud/Naszód, in the final decade of the nineteenth and the first part of the twentieth century. David’s experiences exemplify one of the area’s nation-building strategies aimed at establishing a body of individuals trained in law, who could defend the interests of the Romanian nation in Hungarian courts, and contribute to its betterment in all domains. At the same time, because of his kinship ties to the uppermost political echelon in Dualist Hungary, through his uncle Ion Ciocan, a parliamentary representative in Budapest, the Romanian man of law saw himself in a privileged financial position, and was introduced into a wide-ranging network spanning many counties and social-professional levels. He made use of this network in his personal efforts of advancement, and then gave back when he had managed to establish himself as part of the administrative system of the Hungarian, and later on, Romanian state.

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