42 Facts About Agoston Haraszthy

Agoston Haraszthy was the first Hungarian to settle permanently in the United States and only the second to write a book about the country in his native language.

Agoston Haraszthy is remembered in Wisconsin as the founder of the oldest incorporated village in the state.

Agoston Haraszthy was the only child of Karoly Haraszthy and his wife, Anna Maria.

Agoston Haraszthy belonged to the Mokcsai branch of the Haraszthy family, signifying that at one time or another his ancestors owned estates at places called Mokcsa and Haraszth.

Agoston Haraszthy's father-in-law was Ferenc Dedinszky, the superintendent of a large estate at Futak on the Danube River where, among other things, vines were cultivated and wine was produced.

On January 6,1833, Agoston Haraszthy married Eleonora Dedinszky in Bacs-Bodrog County, Hungary.

Agoston and Eleonora Haraszthy were the parents of six children: Geza, Attila, Arpad, Ida, Bela, and Otelia.

Agoston Haraszthy was a writer in his native Hungarian, in German, and later in English.

Agoston Haraszthy traveled widely through the United States to gather material for the book, which praised American life and enterprise.

In 1842, Agoston Haraszthy returned to Hungary to bring his parents, wife and children to Wisconsin as permanent residents of the United States.

Agoston Haraszthy formed a partnership with an Englishman named Robert Bryant and threw himself into a myriad of ambitious projects.

Agoston Haraszthy owned and operated a steamboat that carried passengers and freight on the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers.

Agoston Haraszthy donated land on which the first Roman Catholic church and school in Sauk City were built.

Agoston Haraszthy donated 100 acres of land in the town for the founding of a church and for sale at cost to immigrants.

Agoston Haraszthy established a ferry that crossed the river, connecting Roxbury with Sauk City.

Agoston Haraszthy planted fruit orchards, operated a livery stable and stagecoach line, opened a butcher shop, and organized a syndicate to subdivide a large section of the San Diego Bay shore into streets, parks, and building lots.

Agoston Haraszthy planted a vineyard on a tract of land near the San Diego River.

Agoston Haraszthy was elected to the California State Assembly from San Diego in September 1851.

Agoston Haraszthy served from January 5 to May 4,1852, advancing proposals to relieve flooding on the San Diego River, build a state hospital in San Diego, ease tax burdens on Southern California landowners, replace the debt-ridden San Diego city council with a board of trustees, and provide relief for the indigent in San Diego.

Agoston Haraszthy led an unsuccessful movement to divide California into two states.

In San Francisco, Agoston Haraszthy became friendly with a group of Hungarian metallurgists.

Agoston Haraszthy formed a partnership under the name of Haraszthy and Uznay and built a large private refinery facility, called the Eureka Gold and Silver Refinery.

Agoston Haraszthy moved his vines there from Crystal Springs and began to expand the vineyards and hire Charles Krug as his winemaker.

Agoston Haraszthy eventually had two large stone winery buildings, equipped with tunnels and the latest wine-making equipment in California.

Agoston Haraszthy added acreage to his original purchase, eventually holding more than 5,000 acres of valley and hillside.

Agoston Haraszthy was a proponent of hillside plantings, arguing that vines should be permitted to grow without irrigation.

Agoston Haraszthy divided some of his acreage into smaller plots, inducing prominent Californians to come to Sonoma, where he planted vineyards for them.

Agoston Haraszthy was a vocal advocate of Chinese immigration, arguing that Chinese should be permitted to come to California and provide much-needed labor.

Agoston Haraszthy built a villa in the middle of the Buena Vista vineyards, in which he lived with his family.

Agoston Haraszthy contributed articles to newspapers and made speeches to gatherings of agriculturalists.

Agoston Haraszthy entered his wines in the competition of the California State Fair and received the highest awards.

In 1863, Agoston Haraszthy incorporated the Buena Vista Vinicultural Society, the first large corporation in California organized for the express purpose of engaging in agriculture.

Agoston Haraszthy decided to make a trip to Europe to investigate the best European vine-planting and winemaking practices and to gather cuttings of European vines.

Agoston Haraszthy traveled through France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and his native Hungary before returning to California in December 1861 with more than 100,000 cuttings of more than 350 different varieties of vines.

Agoston Haraszthy offered to sell the vines to the state, propagate them in his Sonoma nursery, test them to determine which were best suited to the California soil and climate, and distribute them to would-be winemakers throughout California.

The Legislature refused the offer, leaving Agoston Haraszthy to distribute the vines at his own expense.

In Sonoma, Agoston Haraszthy became friendly with Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, the former comandante general of Mexican California, founder of Sonoma, and a neighboring landowner and well-respected winemaker.

Agoston Haraszthy borrowed large sums of money to expand the vineyards and cellars.

Agoston Haraszthy left Buena Vista for another vineyard in Sonoma owned by his wife.

Agoston Haraszthy formed a partnership with a German-born physician and surgeon named Theodore Wassmer and began to develop a large sugar plantation near the seaside port of Corinto, Nicaragua, where he planned to produce rum and sell it in American markets.

The claim that Agoston Haraszthy brought the first Zinfandel vines to California is a subject of controversy.

In March 2007, Agoston Haraszthy was inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame by the Culinary Institute of America.