Steven Vajda - Early Life

Early Life

Steven (originally István) Vajda was born in Budapest in 1901, to Josef and Aurelia Wollak. His family moved to Vienna in 1903, and it was in this city that Steven was raised and educated. Although he was a diligent and successful student, he did not expect to attend university because his family was of modest means. However, a period of massive inflation followed the end of the First World War, and the university fee schedule was not adjusted as the Austrian currency lost value. In this way, by the time Steven had finished school, the cost of a higher education had dropped and he was able to continue his studies. He read mathematics and received a Dr. Phil. Degree in 1925 from the University of Vienna. One of his first appointments was in Romania where he was an actuarial advisor to the Romanian government. He eventually returned to Vienna to continue his work as an actuary and was married there in 1929.

In the early 20th century, Vienna was a hive of intellectual activity. It was the city of Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Karl Popper, Gábor Szegő, Kurt Gödel, Oskar Morgenstern and so many others. It was a progressive society known as Rotes Wien (Red Vienna) between 1918 and 1934, when the social democrats introduced such measures as the eight hour day, subsidized workers’ housing and reform of the education system. However, the 1930s also saw the rise of fascism in Germany and Italy, and Austria was not exempt from this movement. In 1934 there was a brief civil war when the chancellor, Dollfuss, had the army shell parts of Vienna that were in the hands of a socialist militia. In 1938, Austria was occupied (the Anschluss) and incorporated into Hitler’s German state. In 1939, Steven, wife Eva and their two children, Hedy and Robert, fled Austria. The children were sent to Sweden and Eva was admitted to the UK as a domestic servant, but Steven had to find another way to obtain an entry visa. Steven’s friend Karl Popper had already left Austria and, as a New Zealand resident and lecturer in philosophy at Canterbury University College, he found Steven a job and helped him to obtain the necessary travel documents. Steven was then able to enter England because he was merely in transit. The plan was to reunite the family in England and then leave for New Zealand, but before that could happen, the Second World War started and the Vajdas were briefly interned as “enemy aliens”. They were housed in a camp on the Isle of Man with other refugees from across Europe. The internees organized a school for their children and, of course, Steven taught mathematics. Most of the internees were released after several months and Steven found employment as an actuary.