Esztergom Évlapjai 2000

HORVÁTHY Péter: Egy lokálpatrióta esztergomi „euro-polgár" vallomásából (Nagyfalusi Tibor interjúja Horváthy Péterrel)

The annals of the - personally experienced - prime of the local swimming sport is completed by this interview. The two pieces of writing depict together the portrait of a modern "Renaissance" man, who used to set off to see the world from Esztergom and while remaining a noble minded "local patriot", he has become a real "Eunxátizen". At 16, you dream of adventures. Of what kind? For me, adventure meant discovering the way people live or used to hve around the world, but alsó trough the ages of History. Language is the key which gives access to this cultural travelling. Did I choose to learn a language because of the girl who spoke the language I wanted to learn? It's hard to say. My thirst for adventure led me first to the maths class of an ehte high-school in Budapest. At the University, I spent as much time at the Art and Language Faculty as with my own mathematics courses. (Unlike in science, there are plenty of girls there!) Skipping our course, we were playing football from dawn to the evening, we went to the Music Academy, or to one of the 25 theaters, or to watch the movies in the Museum of Films (entering, of course, without a ticket). Working as interpreter at the Institute for Cultural Exchanges brought me new adventures, ranging from archeology to wine tasting. During the summer holidays, the „red passport" allowed me to hitchhike almost moneyless, but fiiled with curiosity, around the five "socialist" countries. An unexpected 1-year scholarship (in principle, destinated to study mathematical physics in Paris) made me possible to enlarge my domain to Western Europe. After my return, I got involved - in my work. Perhaps too late, however: I only got, and even that with somé luck, a doctoral scholarship at Veszprém, at the University of Chemical Engineering. Money was short, but I could earn quite well by translating from languages nobody spoke there, e. g. spanish, dutch, and the liké. (Nor did I, speak these languages, but that's adventure!) After twoyears, at 27,1 avoided unemployment by obtaining another scholarship for Francé. After one happy year spent at the Centre de Physique Théorique of Marseille, I was offered a temporary teaching position at Marseille University. I stayed there, withouth the permission of the Hungárián authorities. From Marseille, I went to Italy; one year later I beneflted of a Humboldt Fellowship to spend two years in Germany. Obtaining a consular passport from the Hungárián authorities brought me a disaster: the French counter-spying service, the famous D.S.T., took it as a solid evidence of that I must be a spy. They made my life hell for the next couple of years, and it was 6 years later only that things got smoothed out. In the meantime, I was commuting between Ireland and Marseille, to renew my student's visa every three months. At 37,1 found a permanent teaching job. Two years later, I got promoted: the Age of Adventures came to an end. 320