Lajos Vermes (Subotica, 28.6.1860 – Subotica, 22.5.1945) was a versatile athlete and organiser of the sporting life, entrepreneur. He was born in the most distinguished Hungarian noble family in Subotica. His passion for doing sports formed during his education. He was 18 years old, when he organised a competition in throwing the discus on his family’s property between Subotica and Palić, and he rode the first bicycle in the streets of Subotica the following year. He was among the founders of the Subotica Gymnastics Society (1880), and later of the Achilles Association as well. From 1880, on the shore of Lake Palić, on the land of the Vermes family there began the competitions inspired by the Olympic Games of ancient Greece. In 1892, the construction of two villas was completed and a wooden stand was built along the 225 metres long paved track for biking and running. He started to work as a physical education teacher at the grammar school in Subotica in 1889. In the middle of the last decade of the 19th century, he moved to Cluj, where he became a professor of physical education at the Franz Joseph University and the Unitarian grammar school. In the years after the First World War, he lived with his family, appearing in public only occasional in newspaper interviews, in which he recalled his tumultuous career days.
Mirko Grlica
Bibliography:
Mirko Grlica (2011/b): Na dva točka… In: Grad biciklista: istorijski, etnološki, umetnički aspekti bicikla u Subotici. Gradski muzej, Subotica, 6-31.