SEBAJ Society and the Authentic Story of its Foundation
What does SEBAJ society stand for? For the first sight, its name seems strange, not meaning much for you. Actually, for those who are familiar with the traditions of the old Academy of Selmec, its name isnt unknown either. We would like to introduce the school traditions of Selmecbánya to more and more people to make them more familiar with the great many traditions of our school, among which the most important is the so-called Salamander originating from Selmecbánya, of course.
Our friendly society lives for these traditions. Loving traditions and special evenings, we seriously considered establishing a table society to make our friendly relationships even closer and to spread our traditions further. The foundation of the society was fast, though it was preceded by a difficult naming procedure. The story is the following (or only after such a long time does it seem to be so):
In May 1995, we spent some unforgettable days on the Selmec School Days in Miskolc. Among the many other programs was a university ball. So many friends having gathered and being in high spirits, we considered it as a most solemn occasion to choose name for our society. However, as we didnt want to do anything in the heat of this never-returning moment, we made a little feast before finally settling in a quiet corner in order to discuss the matter. There was no shortage of suggestions, but somehow they didnt suit the societys atmosphere. Eventually, Sala put forward an excellent idea. Since most of us were accommodated in a students hostel actually a workers lodgings bearing the name of Putyilov, a Russian factory owner, he suggested naming our society Putyilov. Sala got carried away by his own great idea so much, that he was already designing our coat-of-arms: a bottle with a model cruiser inside. He got very keyed up, but unfortunately, Szabi had to draw his attention to the fact that the name of his famous cruiser wasnt Putyilov but Patyomkin. Sala didnt lose his spirits, because remaining self-confident he only waved his hand and said: It doesnt matter or Sebaj in Hungarian. Although we voted for this name unanimously, we didnt think it seriously that time. However, not making up a better name to replace it later, we stood by our decision confirming it with a toast as well, or at least it is said so.
Only for the sake of formality, the name was later confirmed by those who were absent from the ball. This event took place on the sixth floor of the well-known Putyilov students hostel.