“Ármin Vámbéry was a many-sided Hungarian Orientalist, who had an unparalleled career. He started from hopeless poverty and became an honoured guest of rulers. He could not afford to collect his matriculation certificate and still became a university professor. He was limping due to an infantile disorder, still reached remote lands barely seen by Europeans before him. In 1857, during his long study-tour in Istanbul, he thoroughly familiarized himself with the language and social customs of the Turks and established important connections with several people from the élite of the Ottoman Empire. His experiences of the 1848-49 Hungarian War of Independence aroused his interest in studying the origins of the Hungarian people…”
