Ármin Vámbéry (born Hermann Wamberger; 19 March 1832 – 15 September 1913), also known as Arminius Vámbéry, was a Hungarian Turkologist and traveller.
Early life
Vámbéry was born in 1832 in the Hungarian city of Szentgyörgy within the Austrian Empire (now Svätý Jur in Slovakia), into a poor Jewish family. According to Ernst Pawel, a biographer of Theodor Herzl, as well as Tom Reiss, a biographer of Lev Nussimbaum, Vámbéry's original last name was Wamberger rather than Bamberger. He was raised Jewish, but later became an atheist. Vámbéry was 1 year old when his father died and the family moved to Dunaszerdahely (now Dunajská Streda in Slovakia).
In his autobiography, Vámbéry says that his parents were so poor and had so many children that they were forced to stop supporting each child at a young age. He was set "adrift" at the age of 12. Vámbéry says that the constant hunger and scanty clothing of his childhood hardened his young body, which served him well in his later travels. He walked with a crutch under his left arm because of a congenital disorder.
He attended the local school until the age of 12 and showed a remarkable aptitude for learning languages. He was forced to leave school, to support himself with work. He worked briefly as a dressmaker's assistant, but after becoming tutor to the son of the village innkeeper, he was enabled by his friends to enter the Untergymnasium of Szentgyörgy (Svätý Jur).
By the age of 16, he had a good knowledge of Hungarian, Hebrew, Latin, French, and German. He was also rapidly acquiring English, the Scandinavian languages, Russian, Serbian, and other Slavic languages.
