Titus de Bobula (1878–1961) was a

Hungarian-American Hungarian Americans (, ) are Americans of Hungarian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that there are approximately 1.396 million Americans of Hungarian descent as of 2018. The total number of people with ethnic Hungarian backgroun ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. He was born in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

to János Bobula, Sr. (1844–1903), a

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

architect and politician, and he studied at

Budapest University of Technology and Economics The Budapest University of Technology and Economics ( or in short ), official abbreviation BME, is a public research university located in Budapest, Hungary. It is the most significant university of technology in the country and is considered ...

, along with his brother, János Jr. (1871–1922), who also became an architect. Titus de Bobula emigrated to the United States around 1897, living and working at times in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in Appalachian Ohio, southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum River, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia ...

. In 1903, he arrived in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, where he designed buildings for the next eight years. One of his major commissions was St. John the Baptist Greek Catholic Church in

Munhall, Pennsylvania Munhall is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, on the west bank of the Monongahela River. The population was 10,774 at the 2020 census. It is a residential suburb of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Located south of ...

, patterned after the Rusyn Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in

Uzhhorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Uzh, Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistan ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. The church's twin towers, which rise 125 feet, are composed of white brick in a Greek cruciform pattern set into sandstone. His last building in Greater Pittsburgh was St. Peter and St. Paul Russian Greek-Catholic (now Ukrainian Orthodox) Church in

Carnegie, Pennsylvania Carnegie () is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,134 in the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. History Carnegie is named after Andrew Carnegie, who donated one of his libr ...

. In 1910, he married Eurania Dinkey Mock of

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

(a niece of the wife of

Charles M. Schwab Charles Michael Schwab (February 18, 1862 – September 18, 1939) was an American steel magnate. Under his leadership, Bethlehem Steel became the second-largest steel maker in the United States, and one of the most important heavy manufacturer ...

, president at times of the

Carnegie Steel Company Carnegie Steel Company was a steel-producing company primarily created by Andrew Carnegie and several close associates to manage businesses at steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century. The company was formed in ...

U.S. Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

, and

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

), and the couple moved to New York City. He returned to Hungary in the early 1920s and turned to political activism. On Nov. 10, 1923, the front page of the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

read: "Titus De Bobula Jailed in Budapest: Husband of Mrs. C. M. Schwab's Niece Arrested for Plot to Overthrow (Hungarian) Government." By the 1930s, he had returned to the U.S. and, as

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla (;"Tesla"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 10 July 1856 – 7 ...

biographer Marc Seifer describes, was "hired to design the tower, power plant, and housing for the inventor's 'impenetrable shield between nations'"-a visionary electronic defence system. De Bobula moved to Washington, D.C., in the 1930s. A

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

obituary from 1961 described him as a retired consulting architect best known for designing churches in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He and his wife are buried in

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bobula, Titus de 1878 births 1961 deaths De Bobula, Titus De Bobula, Titus 19th-century Hungarian architects Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Architects from Budapest 19th-century American architects