Három női sors egy 19. századi „self-made-man” családban
Three Women’s Destinies in a 19th-Century “Self-Made” Family

Summary/Abstract: The 19th-century process of embourgeoisement triggered significant social stratification. Many people living in the 19th century benefited from the new career opportunities created by economic and social modernization. This study presents the story of a family whose male members only had the title of market town citizens, providing an uncertain legal status, at the beginning of the century. Then, by the end of it, they had risen to the national official elite. This change has taken place within two generations, but did not affect the entire family, but only one branch of it. The opportunity was provided by two channels: education and marriage. My study focuses on the latter. The study follows the life paths of three women – wives and mothers – from the Gallasy family, insofar as our sources go. Of these three marriages, it can only be said of the middle that it resulted in a happy life for the wife as well. The married parties came from the same social group in the first two cases, which made cohabitation relatively problem-free. More specifically, no source has survived to prove otherwise. In the third marriage, however, the young couple has come together from very far away from each other, as a result of which their cohabitation was not that harmonious. Unfortunately, despite the relative abundance of resources, we are not able to approach our female figures with sufficient thoroughness, as the writings about them are rarely from them personally. Today, the image of the female figures in the family can only be seen from the viewpoint of their husbands.

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