ATHÉN – CAMBRIDGE – HELIKON. SÁROSPATAK ISKOLAVÁROS JELZŐINEK ETIMOLÓGIÁJA

The character of Sárospatak as a school town is well known. It is therefore not surprising that the settlement has been given different signs over time - to convey the high quality of education. The best known is the "Bodrogparti Athens", which has been used in this form since the end of the 19th century, but whose origins go back to Comenius' stay in Sárospatak. In his welcome speech delivered in 1650, the Czech-Moravian teacher called the school Rákóczi-Athenaeum, which term can be considered the etymological antecedent of the later indicative structure. The spread of the term "Hungarian Cambridge", which was prominent between the two world wars, was closely related to the school development ideas of Count Kunó Klebelsberg, Minister of Culture in the 1920s and 30s, especially the establishment of the English Boarding School. Regardless, references to the famous English school town as an example to be followed appear in Sárospatak already at the beginning of the 20th century. Perhaps the least known phrase "The Helikon of Hegyalja" is a poetic word creation of Mihály Vitéz Csokonai, from the 18th to the 19th century. The former Sárospatak student poet's attraction to Tokaj wine can also be sensed in the expression. The announcement presents the history of the development of the three adjectives, their use at the time and their afterlife today.