Linguist, editor, university professor, the founder of Hungarian linguistics.
An outstanding figure of the Hungarian Enlightment. Polyhistor of his time – man of letters, linguist, a brilliant professor. He had a very prolific literary and scientific activity, – he was among the founders of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and he was also skilled in drawing and architecture. His activity within linguistics was the most outstanding. He considered that journalism and literature should also serve the cause of the language.
He was born in Nagyszentmiklós (today Sânnicolau Mare, Romania). He did not come from a wealthy family; his father was a boot maker. He started studying in Csanád, and then at the age of 13 he furthered his studied in Szeged, in the Piarist School, where he had been studying linguistics here for six years. In 1769 in Kecskemét he entered the Piarist Order. In 1778 in Nagyvárad (today Oradea, Romania) he was ordered priest. In 1794 in Győr he became an undenominational priest. This allowed him to practice literature more freely and to take an active part in the public life, without any constrains from a church. He studied and taught in many parts of the country: in Tata drawing and architecture, in Nagykároly (today Carei, Romania) natural sciences and philosophy, and in Veszprém he started writing. In Nyitra and Nagyvárad he taught in the State School of Design.
In these years he wrote several books. His first book in 1777 was a spelling book, then a book on orthography and calligraphy. In 1780 he published two books: one about agriculture and the other one about architecture. The latter one is the first architecture textbook ever written in Hungarian. He created and translated a series of Hungarian terms in this field. In 1778 he published his first collection of poems entitle Magyar alagyáknak (elégiáknak) I. Könyve (The First Book of Hungarian Elegies). The poems follow his classical rules of versification, they are patriotic and serve the cause of linguistics and science.
In 1779 in Nagyvárad he met Kayinczy and they became friends. In 1708 he published his book entitled A magyar nyelvnek helyes írása és kimondása felől kettős tanulság, avagy ortográfia. (Double Consequences About the Spelling and Pronunciation or the Ortography of the Hungarian Language.) The book contained spelling and pronunciation rules that did not loose their validity. After the years spent in Nagyvárad, he tutored in Vienna, Sopron, Graz. In Vienna he had the opportunity to get involved in scientific activities, his efforts started having more defined goals. It was in Vienna where he decided to start writing the Collection of Poems and to found the Society for Scientists. He also published an appeal in the Pozsonyi Magyar Hírmondó (a Hungarian newspaper in Pozsony, today Bratislava, Slovakia) in which he encouraged the gathering of traditional folk songs. For Revai the knowledge of old poems and dialects formed the basis for the research in the filed of linguistic history. In 1783 he became the editor of the Pozsonyi Magyar Hírmondó, and from 1784 he started working as a journalist as well.
In 1796, in Esztergom he was appointed teacher in the poetry department of the local high-school. In 1799 he resigned and moved to Komárom (today Komarno, Slovakia). He retired in 1800 because of his health problems. He lived in Sopron for a while and had serious financial problems. Then he returned to Vienna where he was welcomed in the homes of his benefactors and also by the management of the library. In Vienna he taught Hungarian to the granddaughter of prince Grassalkovich and to the daughter of count Forgách. He also taught design to count Istvánt Széchenyi.
In December, 1801 died the Hungarian Language and Literature professor of the University in Pest, András Vályi. He did not apply for this position, but he was appointed for it and which he accepted in 1802. He managed, this way, to fulfil an old dream and he did everything he could to fulfil the public’s expectations. In 1803 he published his book Antiquitates. The book is in Latin and had been written by him years before about the first work ever written in Hungarian entitled: Halotti beszéd (Hungarian Funeral Oration). His most important work was the Elaboratior grammatica Hungarica (1803-06) which opened a new era in the field of Hungarian linguistics and in which he created his linguistic system. This work was considered the most thorough system even by the most outstanding Hungarian writers of his time.
After the end of Turkish occupation ended in Hungary, it was Revai who first wrote about the history of the diocese. He also made a list about the bishops of Csanád staring from Gellért until 1778. It is an important source in this field, and a leather-bounded copy of it is still treasured by the Episcopal Library in Temesvár. At present, one of Revai’s manuscripts from 1786 can be found in the library of the Roman- Catholic episcopate in Timişoara. One of its lines is still a valid teaching: “your country is sacred, serve it with honesty…” And Revai did that.
On August 25, 1893, the teachers of Torontál County raised a statue in the memory of Révai from a very small fund in the town of Nagyszentmiklós (today Sânnicolau Mare, Romania). In October 1925 the statue of Eminescu was placed on its pedestal. From 2007 a commemorative tablet was put to mark his birthplace, which proves that his memory’s honoured even today.
