Daku Mitochondrial DNA

If you're a child of Julia Daku (Debreceni) or one of her daughters then your mitochondrial haplotype is HV6a. We inherited this DNA from our mothers, who inherited it from their mother. It's passed on 100%, unchanged, down the female line, so it's an excellent tool in determining our deep ancestry.

The HV haplotype is very rare everywhere but relatively more common in Ukraine, Romania, Turkey, Armenia, and Iraq. It's actually very rare in present-day Hungary. However, since our Hungarian ancestors mostly came from the Szabolcs region of Hungary, in north-east Hungary, near present-day Ukraine, perhaps this matrilineal line comes from further east.

I thought my mother's DNA would be very straightforward: all Hungarian DNA. However, it's turned out to be far more multifaceted than I suspected. The Bekevar Hungarians came from the Austria-Hungarian Empire, a very multi-ethnic state, even within the borders of Hungary, where over a million ethnic Germans lived. Although, I can't be certain until my mother is tested, I suspect my mother's ancestors originate from Germany, Italy, Croatia, and Ukraine as well as Hungary.