Haraszthy de Mokcsa, Agoston (30 August 1812–06 July 1869), pioneer and winegrower, was born in Futtak, in the county of Backsa, Hungary, the son of General Charles Haraszthy de Mokcsa and Anna Halasz. According to tradition, he was the descendant of a noble family long associated with agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, and even sericulture. After receiving a classical Greek and Latin education, as well as experience in managing the family estate, Haraszthy, at age eighteen, became a member of the imperial bodyguard of Austria-Hungary’s Emperor Ferdinand. In 1834 Haraszthy married Eleanora Dödinsky, a refugee from the revolution that was crushed in Poland in 1831. The couple had three children. By 1835 he had become the private secretary to the viceroy of the palatinate of Hungary, Archduke Joseph. Haraszthy was also said to have been the hereditary lord lieutenant of his home county, a magistrate there, and an ex officio delegate to the Diet. But he became involved in the revolutionary movement sweeping Europe, and after his friend, the reformer Louis Kossuth, was arrested in 1837, Haraszthy had to retire to his estate. He apparently became persona non grata, was virtually banished, and was consequently forced to emigrate in 1840....