Rózsa Sándor
Encyclopedia
Great Hungarian Plain
The Great Hungarian Plain is a plain occupying the southern and eastern part of Hungary, some parts of the Eastern Slovak Lowland, southwestern Ukraine, the Transcarpathian Lowland , western Romania , northern Serbia , and eastern Croatia...
. He is the best-known Hungarian highwayman
Highwayman
A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
; his life inspired numerous writers, notably Zsigmond Móricz
Zsigmond Móricz
Zsigmond Móricz was a major Hungarian novelist and Social Realist. He was among the earliest significant literary figures writing in Hungarian.- Early life and education :...
and Gyula Krúdy
Gyula Krúdy
Gyula Krúdy was a Hungarian writer and journalist.-Biography:Gyula Krúdy was born in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. His father was a lawyer and his mother was a maid working for the Krúdy family. His parents did not marry until Gyula was 17 years old.In his teens, Krúdy published newspaper pieces and began...
. He enjoyed much the same esteem as Dick Turpin
Dick Turpin
Richard "Dick" Turpin was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's profession as a butcher early in life, but by the early 1730s he had joined a gang of deer thieves, and later became a poacher,...
, with elements of Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
thrown in for good measure.
Biography
He was at the age of 23 (1836) when first got into jail in Szeged. After escaping he chose the life of a highwayman and a number of bloody and infamous acts made his name well-known.In October 1848 on behalf of the Committee of Defence (Honvédelmi Bizottmány), he joined the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was one of many of the European Revolutions of 1848 and closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas...
with his company of 150. With their strange appearance and method of fighting they had success but because of their lack of discipline they were disbanded.
After the fall of the revolution he was forced to flee and returned to his earlier brigand lifestyle. He was not captured until 1857 when he was betrayed by one of his companions. He was sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. He spent 9 years in prisons of Kufstein
Kufstein
Kufstein is a city in Tyrol, Austria, located along the river Inn, in the lower Inn valley, near the border with Bavaria, Germany, and is the site of a post World War II French sector United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration Displaced Persons camp.Kufstein is the second largest city...
, Theresienstadt and Pétervárad till he was released in a general amnesty in 1868.
In the same year he resumed his old pursuits and robbed post coaches and railway trains. He was again captured on January 12, 1869 and was again sentenced to imprisonment for life.
He died in prison in Gherla.
Sandor Rosza is also discussed in the book "Straszliwi zbojnicy z Bieszczadow i okolicy" (Terrible Robbers of the Bieszczady and Surrounding Areas) by Polish author Robert Bankosz.