Andrej Kvasz a pioneer of aviation in Slovakia, was born of Slovak parents in Békéscsaba, Hungary on November 21s1, 1883. He attended technical school in Budapest and later opened a bicycle and motorcycle repair shop. He made the acquaintance of the designer and aviator Aladár Zsélyi and worked with him as mechanic on the construction of an aeroplane which had its first flight on March 15.th, 1910. A short time later - after Zsélyi had suffered a serious crash - Kvasz himself began to build and fly aeroplanes, usually equipping them with 26 kW (35k) Anzani engines. In 1913 and 1914 the became the first person to organise air shows in Slovakia - in Košice, Spišská Nová Ves, Prešov, Poprad, Kežmarok, Nitra, Lučenec, Trnava and Piesťany. In 1953 Kvasz was awarded the P. Tissandier Diploma for aviation pioneers by the International Aeronautical Federation (FAI). He died in 1974 in Budapest, and is buried there.