Early Life
Gyula Cseszneky was the son of Ferenc Cseszneky and Mária Handzsák. His father was an inventor and impoverished aristocrat, a member of the House of Cseszneky. His mother was the only daughter and heir of a wealthy grain merchant with extended commercial links throughout Austria-Hungary and the Balkans. After World War I, most of their properties were confiscated by the Serbian government, and then his father's sudden death even worsened their hardships.
Their financial difficulties nothwithstanding, Gyula excelled at school, and showed a great interest in literature and poetry. His family encouraged him to become a Roman Catholic priest, however, he shortly changed his mind and as a holder of the Boncompagni family's grant he went to Italy to a military school. In Italy he was introduced to the cultural élite and high society by an old family friend and senator of the Kingdom of Italy, Count Enrico San Martino di Valperga. Fascinated by the Italian language and culture, the young Hungarian cadet translated into his native language several poems of Gabriele D'Annunzio. Cseszneky admired the Italian poet, and probably his subsequent adventure in the Balkans was inspired by D'Annunzio's Regency of Carnaro in Fiume.
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