General, knight of the Saint-Stephen order, founder of the Hungarian Stallion Institutes.
In his diary the 27-year-old captain of the Hussars wrote the following about this turning point in his life: „While I was remounting, I had the time and the opportunity to follow horse breeding and make remarks. I gathered and sorted them out, wrote them down. I had the courage to send them to Franz Jozef II, who was at that time in Buda and make humble suggestions as to how to revive and extend horse breeding in Hungary.”
He studied in a high-school in Kőszeg, and then in Vienna. In 1774 he served as a cadet in the Dajassa regiment of cuirassiers, in 1783 as first officer in the regiment of cuirassiers in Modena. He studied horse breeding at the horse breeding establishment in Ürmény. His commander, count Godiz gave him the opportunity to continue his studies and made a plan for the reviving of horse breeding. He submitted the plan to the Kaiser. His plan was approved by the War Council of the Court and the Kaiser founded in 1785 the Royal horse establishment in Mezőhegyes. He put Csekonics in charge of the building of the establishment and appointed him remount Commander (remont-Commendant). In 1785 the hors breeding establishment was opened on the 22720 acres treasury estate of Mezőhegyes. On January 16, 1786 captain Jozsef Csekonics was appointed commander of the remount department in Hungary and Transylvania. In 1789 the Bábolna Breeding Establishment came into being. During the following twenty years there were some radical changes regarding national horse breeding. Csekonics brought not only Hungarian breeds for the establishmnet but also Arab and Spanish ones, so in a very short time the establishment was famous for its four breeds: Gindan, small and heavy Nonius and Furioso-North Star.
In 1787 he was appointed Major, in 1789 cuirassier and in 1790 colonel. In 1798 he was in charge of supplying the army that was stationing near Lech, in Italy and also Vienna with slather cattle. He stayed in charge for another five years. As a reward he got the Saint-Stephen order and in 1806 he was promoted general.
Csekonics was known as the best horse expert of his time. He was also in charge of developing horse healthcare and of founding a riding-school. He also suggested that horse races should be organised in Vienna and Pest, but the permission for the latter arrived only after his death, in 1827, after Széchenyi had founded the Horse racing Society in Pest and the Horse Breeding Association. He wrote a book about his experience in horse breeding (Praktische Grundsätze die Pferdezucht betreffend, 1817).
His bibliographers, among them Zoltán Kalapis, said that Csekonics was actually not a hippologist, but a businessman, who in a mercantile system that was becoming more and more widespread; he saw in hors breeding first of all a good business. It was József Ernst who managed to give us a whole picture of his career. He said: „ Csekonics was broad-minded, an expert in horse breading, he was able to evaluate the country’s situation and affairs in which he took an active part, good organizer, hard-working, practical, and an excellent businessman of his age. (Magyar Agrártörténeti Életrajzok, 1987 Hungarian Bibliographies in Agronomy).
His activities did not only include horse breeding and the selling of horses, he found other ways of supplying the army. In a year he hired 200 000 mowers to supply the necessary amount of hay the army needed. He was in charge of the supplies for the Balkan army, he provided food for 200000 soldiers and 56 000 horses. He also supplied Vienna with meat, he shopped weekly to Vienna 1000-2000 fatted ox and cattle. He was also commercialized wheat.
As a result of his successful businesses, in 1790 he rented and in 1808 he bought the 56800 acres treasury estate situated between Zsombolya (today Jimbolia, Romania) and Csősztelek (today: Čestereg, Serbia). He retired in 1808 at the age of 51 to manage his estate. His sons and grandsons bought more estates in Fejér, Baranya, Tolna and Bács counties, but until his death he was the head of the family. Only his descendants managed to get the count title, and they were famous for enjoying the usufruct of his wealth and for having a strong influence in the county: without their consent nobody could have been nominated Lord Lieutenant, representative but not even district administrator.
The Csekonics Old Inner Castle, today tha Major’s Office, can still be seen in the centre of Zsombolya, in the middle of a 9 acre ornamental garden. Count Endre Csekonics built the family’s castle on a 156 acres ornamental garden, based on the designs of the renowned architect, Ybl Miklós, in Anglo-Saxon style.
