Count Odön Szechenyi (select), who served in the Istanbul Fire Department for 48 years, was commemorated at a ceremony held at his grave in Feriköy with the participation of the Hungarian Consul General in Istanbul, Mr. Attila Pinter, along with the Deputy Director of the 1st European Region, Mehmet Ali Karaağaç, the Chief, Deputy Chiefs, and Fire Department personnel.
A HUNGARIAN WHO DEDICATED FORTY-EIGHT YEARS OF HIS LIFE TO ISTANBUL:
Szechenyi Pasha
Szechenyi, one of the renowned fire department managers who successfully extinguished the largest fire of the 19th century in Budapest and whose fame became known throughout the capital, sheds light on the fire department's 52 years of service, including four years in Budapest and 48 years in Istanbul. His knowledge and experience are illuminating today. Odön Szechenyi, the younger son of Count Istvan Szecheny, known as the Great Hungarian Patriot, was born in Bratislava on December 14, 1839. Szecheny also wrote the first Hungarian Firefighting Vocational Book. This work, titled "General Experiences Gained in Firefighting," was published in 1864. Szecheny supported the idea of establishing a National Fire Brigade, and the union, founded in 1871, elected him president.
Ödön Szecheny's fame spread throughout the capital, where he and his firefighting team successfully managed the largest fire of the era in Budapest. At the invitation of Sultan Abdülaziz, Szecheny came to Istanbul in 1871 and began establishing and training the military fire department. Believing he would have only one year to complete this work, he planned to take over the fire department in Budapest upon his return home. However, when Sultan Abdülhamid II granted him the rank of Pasha in 1877, he resigned from his post in Hungary and remained director of the Istanbul Fire Brigade until his death on March 23, 1922.
