József Barsi: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Jozsef Istvan Barsi.png|thumb|300px|right|József Istvan Barsi]]

'''József Istvan "Arizona Joe"<ref name=latimes /> Barsi''' (November 26, 1932-July 27, 1988) was a Hungarian-American plumbing contractor and banjo/fiddle musician<ref name = "lundberg">[http://judithbarsi.dc-lundberg.net/ Judith Barsi in Memoriam]</ref> who was best known as the father of child actress [[w:Judith Barsi|Judith Barsi]]. Burdened by social rejection in ~~his native~~ Hungary, József developed a drinking problem and a paranoid personality which was to torment him throughout his life, culminating in him murdering his wife and daughter before taking his own life.

'''József Istvan "Arizona Joe"<ref name=latimes /> Barsi''' (November 26, 1932-July 27, 1988) was a Hungarian-American plumbing contractor and banjo/fiddle musician<ref name = "lundberg">[http://judithbarsi.dc-lundberg.net/ Judith Barsi in Memoriam]</ref> who was best known as the father of child actress [[wikipedia:Judith Barsi|Judith Barsi]]. Burdened by low self-esteem, stemming from mockery over his Hungarian accent and the social rejection he suffered in Hungary, József developed a drinking problem and a paranoid personality which was to torment him throughout his life, culminating in him murdering his wife and daughter before taking his own life.

==Early life and marriages==

[[File:Jozsef,_Klara,_Agi_&_Barna.png|thumb|József with his first wife, Klara, and their two children, Ági (left) and Barna (right).]]

Barsi ~~had~~ [[wikipedia:Hungarian diaspora|fled]] [[wikipedia:People's Republic of Hungary|Communist ~~Hungary~~]] after the [[wikipedia:1956 Hungarian Revolution#Soviet intervention of 4 November|1956 Soviet occupation]] ~~at age 19~~. He initially settled in [[wikipedia:France|France]], and married a fellow Hungarian refugee named Klara, with whom he had two children, a son named Barna (1957-1995), and a daughter named Ági (1958-2008). József soon developed a [[w:alcoholism|drinking problem]], and began to physically abuse his wife.<ref name=agibarsi>Barsi, Ági (1999), ''What will you do?'', A Better Life, ISBN 0967169399</ref> Ági, and other close contacts, later wrote that József suffered from low self-esteem, stemming from mockery over his Hungarian accent and the social rejection he suffered in Hungary, due to his [[w:Legitimacy (law)|illegitimate birth]].<ref name=latimes /><ref name=agibarsi /><ref name=Documentary/>

Barsi was born on November 26, 1932 in a "[rough] industrial" area of Hungary,<ref name=latimes /> during the reign of [[wikipedia:Miklós Horthy|Admiral Horthy]]. An [[wikipedia:Legitimacy (law)|illegitimate]] child, Barsi never knew his father, and suffered from social rejection and bullying by other children and from his own school teachers.<ref name=Documentary/><ref name=agibarsi /> His first daughter, Ági, later speculated that Barsi resented his mother for allowing his father to abandon him, and consequently viewed all women as "whores".<ref name=agibarsi />

At age 19, Barsi [[wikipedia:Hungarian diaspora|fled]] his now [[wikipedia:People's Republic of Hungary|Communist-ruled homeland]] after the [[wikipedia:1956 Hungarian Revolution#Soviet intervention of 4 November|1956 Soviet occupation]]. He initially settled in [[wikipedia:France|France]], and married a fellow Hungarian refugee named Klara, with whom he had two children, a son named Barna (1957-1995), and a daughter named Ági (1958-2008). József soon developed a [[w:alcoholism|drinking problem]], and began to physically abuse his wife.<ref name=agibarsi>Barsi, Ági (1999), ''What will you do?'', A Better Life, ISBN 0967169399</ref>

[[File:Barsi Couple.jpg|thumb|right|József with his second wife, Maria.]]

After the family moved to New York in 1964, József extended his abuse to his son Barna, prompting Klara to escape with the children to Arizona five years later. Although József attempted to reconcile himself with his family, Klara filed for divorce after he threw a cast iron skillet at her in a drunken rage. Shortly after the divorce, József moved to California,<ref name=agibarsi /> where he worked as a plumbing contractor. There, he met Maria Virovacz, a waitress in a Los Angeles restaurant known as a meeting place for immigrants.<ref name=latimes />

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[File:Jozsef Istvan Barsi.png|thumb|300px|right|József Istvan Barsi]]
-'''József Istvan "Arizona Joe"<ref name=latimes /> Barsi'''  (November 26, 1932-July 27, 1988) was a Hungarian-American plumbing contractor and banjo/fiddle musician<ref name = "lundberg">[http://judithbarsi.dc-lundberg.net/ Judith Barsi in Memoriam]</ref> who was best known as the father of child actress [[w:Judith Barsi|Judith Barsi]]. Burdened by social rejection in his native Hungary, József developed a drinking problem and a paranoid personality which was to torment him throughout his life, culminating in him murdering his wife and daughter before taking his own life.
+'''József Istvan "Arizona Joe"<ref name=latimes /> Barsi'''  (November 26, 1932-July 27, 1988) was a Hungarian-American plumbing contractor and banjo/fiddle musician<ref name = "lundberg">[http://judithbarsi.dc-lundberg.net/ Judith Barsi in Memoriam]</ref> who was best known as the father of child actress [[wikipedia:Judith Barsi|Judith Barsi]]. Burdened by low self-esteem, stemming from mockery over his Hungarian accent and the social rejection he suffered in Hungary, József developed a drinking problem and a paranoid personality which was to torment him throughout his life, culminating in him murdering his wife and daughter before taking his own life.
 ==Early life and marriages==
 [[File:Jozsef,_Klara,_Agi_&_Barna.png|thumb|József with his first wife, Klara, and their two children, Ági (left) and Barna (right).]]
-Barsi had [[wikipedia:Hungarian diaspora|fled]] [[wikipedia:People's Republic of Hungary|Communist Hungary]] after the [[wikipedia:1956 Hungarian Revolution#Soviet intervention of 4 November|1956 Soviet occupation]] at age 19. He initially settled in [[wikipedia:France|France]], and married a fellow Hungarian refugee named Klara, with whom he had two children, a son named Barna (1957-1995), and a daughter named Ági (1958-2008). József soon developed a [[w:alcoholism|drinking problem]], and began to physically abuse his wife.<ref name=agibarsi>Barsi, Ági (1999), ''What will you do?'', A Better Life, ISBN 0967169399</ref> Ági, and other close contacts, later wrote that József suffered from low self-esteem, stemming from mockery over his Hungarian accent and the social rejection he suffered in Hungary, due to his [[w:Legitimacy (law)|illegitimate birth]].<ref name=latimes /><ref name=agibarsi /><ref name=Documentary/>
+Barsi was born on November 26, 1932 in a "[rough] industrial" area of Hungary,<ref name=latimes /> during the reign of [[wikipedia:Miklós Horthy|Admiral Horthy]]. An [[wikipedia:Legitimacy (law)|illegitimate]] child, Barsi never knew his father, and suffered from social rejection and bullying by other children and from his own school teachers.<ref name=Documentary/><ref name=agibarsi /> His first daughter, Ági, later speculated that Barsi resented his mother for allowing his father to abandon him, and consequently viewed all women as "whores".<ref name=agibarsi />
+At age 19, Barsi [[wikipedia:Hungarian diaspora|fled]] his now [[wikipedia:People's Republic of Hungary|Communist-ruled homeland]] after the [[wikipedia:1956 Hungarian Revolution#Soviet intervention of 4 November|1956 Soviet occupation]]. He initially settled in [[wikipedia:France|France]], and married a fellow Hungarian refugee named Klara, with whom he had two children, a son named Barna (1957-1995), and a daughter named Ági (1958-2008). József soon developed a [[w:alcoholism|drinking problem]], and began to physically abuse his wife.<ref name=agibarsi>Barsi, Ági (1999), ''What will you do?'', A Better Life, ISBN 0967169399</ref>
 [[File:Barsi Couple.jpg|thumb|right|József with his second wife, Maria.]]
 After the family moved to New York in 1964, József extended his abuse to his son Barna, prompting Klara to escape with the children to Arizona five years later. Although József attempted to reconcile himself with his family, Klara filed for divorce after he threw a cast iron skillet at her in a drunken rage. Shortly after the divorce, József moved to California,<ref name=agibarsi /> where he worked as a plumbing contractor. There, he met Maria Virovacz, a waitress in a Los Angeles restaurant known as a meeting place for immigrants.<ref name=latimes />