THE BUST OF VASILE GOLDIŞ / László Trencsényi
The sculpture was given as a gift to László Trencsényi, when he was invited to a ceremony conference of the Vasile Goldiş Western University of Arad at the beginning of the 1990s. Vasile Goldiş was a politician born in Arad, who actively contributed to establishing the independent Romania in 1918.
The sculpture gained personal interest when László Trencsényi found some notes by his grandfather, János Waldapfel, a teacher working at a grammar school participating in the university’s teacher training program. The notes reflected on a young man, who attended Pázmány University at that time (1881-82) under the name László Goldis, whose professional career as a teacher-to-be was supported by Waldapfel. The latter, born in Upper Hungary (now Slovakia), urged in his studies the assimilation of the Slovakian people living in that region. Goldiş drew the conclusion at the Treaty of Trianon, where the Károlyi government was represented by Oszkár Jászi, that the Hungarian government was impotent regarding national issues. Therefore, Goldiş participated in establishing the independent country of Romania.
