Violence and Violins: The Making of a Hungarian Refugee - Paperback

by Joseph Nagyvary (Author)

Joseph Nagyvary's father, J nos, was the only survivor of his division with Hungary's 2nd Army. When he came back to his family after the horrors of World War II, his mission for God clashed with the atheistic Communist state in Hungary.

Growing up, young Joseph has two passions in life: science and music. He is particularly enamored of the Stradivarius violin. His fascination with the violin will lead to a lifelong pursuit, but his childhood gives him no opportunity to play any kind of musical instrument. Joseph chooses to pursue his other dream and enrolls as a chemistry major at the University of Budapest. He finds escape from the harsh reality of the communist terror by daydreaming of being the biblical Joseph, singing Wagner operas, and playing a Stradivarius.

In the only shooting war of the Cold War in 1956, Joseph's life is forever changed. He will face enemy soldiers and have to choose whether or not to destroy them. Join him in this harrowing story about faith and peace amid paranoia and violence.

Author Biography

Joseph Nagyvary is professor emeritus of biochemistry at Texas A&M University. He studied chemistry in his native Hungary at the University of Budapest and was a participant in the 1956 student uprising.

Nagyvary later escaped to Austria and ended up in Switzerland. He earned his doctorate at the University of Zurich and completed his postdoctoral work at Cambridge University. After Cambridge, Nagyvary immigrated to the United States in 1964. He taught biochemistry at Texas A&M University from 1968 to 2003. He won a prize from the Swiss National Foundation in 1962, a career development award from US Public Health in 1967, and the Gold Medal of the Japanese Society for Industrial Physics in 2005.

Nagyvary has received international recognition for his research into the Stradivarius violin, inspired by a childhood passion for classical music. Nagyvary lives in Jonestown, Texas, with his wife, Mary Ann. He has four children.