Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1979 (7. évfolyam, 19-22. szám)
1979 / 21. szám
HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER THE FIRST HUNGARIAN CHAIR IN NORTH AMERICA In North America Hungarian studies have been noted for their fragmented and haphazard nature. Some notion of continuity has been provided by broad area studies incorporating Hungarian related components in such institutions as the Institute on East Central Europe at Columbia U., and the Department of Uralic and Altaic Studies at Indiana U. In both cases Hungarian studies constitute part of the curricula. These institutions deserve major credit for the present cadre of distinguished Hungarianists in North America and for an ever growing English language literature of Hungarology. Yet, no institution on the continent secured an exclusive, independent, and continuous academic unit which could devote its entire existence to Hungarian studies, research, and training, and which would not have to fight intramural battles forsurvival with other departments and programsofa given institution. In fact, with the exception of the programs at Columbia U. and Indiana U., no Hungarian chair or program survived in America for more than a socre of years. The establishment of the Hungarian chair at the U. of Toronto in 1978 isatoncea majoracademic achievement and a testimony to the strength, farsightedness, and determination of the Hungarian community of Canada. This community demonstrated willingness to back up its vision with hard cash and collected $300,000 toward the Hungarian chair. This sum was matched by an equal amount by the Canadian federal government. The interest on $600,000 is needed to maintain a chair under present economic conditions. As George Bisztray said, “only inflation could kill the chair, now.” Those who have been responsible for this dramatic achievement - among whom the Széchenyi Society of Canada has been in the forefront - will see to it that not even inflation should undermine the continuous close cooperation between academe and the Hungarian community of Canada, a cooperation which is essential for the maintenance of this essential institution. The first scholar to occupy the chair is George Bisztray, a tenured Associate Professor of the U. of Toronto. Born in 1938 of Transylvanian parents in Budapest, he was reared in an intellectual environment; his father was a college professor, his mother a high school teacher. When both lost their jobs during the Ra'kosi era, the family suffered deprivation and humiliation. Nevertheless, young George completed secondary school in 1957, and enrolled at the Hungarian- English Department of the Lo'raht Eötvös U. in Budapest. His first job was as a translator for a publishing house and for the INDIANA U. and H.A.S. ESTABLISH HUNGARIAN CHAIR IN U.S. The ink had hardly dried on our report in the adjacent column, when a letter announced the funding of a Hungarian chair in the United States. Prof. Denis Sinor, chairman of the Department of Uralic and Altaic Studies at Indiana University notified us about an agreement reached between Indiana University and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on June 15, 1979, for the establishment of a Chair of Hungarian Studies. “The Chair - which will function within the Department of Uralic and Altaic Studies - is meant to ensure, on a perpetual basis, teaching and research focusing on Hungarian history, culture, literature, art, and other topics relevant to Hungary’s past and present. The holder of the Chair will have full professorial rank. The income derived from the endowment made by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences will be matched by Indiana University.” Sinor adds that to the best of his knowledge “no similar agreement exists between a socialist state and an American university, and the step is unprecedented from the Hungarian point of view.” Indeed it is an extremely important achievement for which full credit should be given to the negotiating skills of Prof. Sinor. Having a permanent institutional base of collaboration between the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the U.S. academic world agrees with the spirit of cultural cooperation frequently alluded to in bilateral negotiations of the past. We will return to the Hungarian chair at Indiana University in our next issue, when we hope to report on how the chair will be filled and what its program of studies will be. Hungarian Radio. He received a scholarship to Norway in 1965 from where he immigrated to the U.S. After obtaining a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the U. of Minnesota in 1972, Bisztray taught in Nebraska, Minnesota, and Illinois colleges. The call to the U. of Toronto in 1978, found him teaching at the U. of Alberta in Edmonton. According to a press release from the U. of Toronto, the Hungarian chair is attached to the Dept, of Slavic Languages and Literatures for administrative purposes only while maintaining full independence in academic matters. Its stated objectives are to study Hungarian language, literature, and culture in their global context, and make them relevant to the unique multicultural system of Canada. For information write to Dr. George Bisztray, Assoc. Prof, of Hungarian Studies, Dept, of Slavic, 21 Sussex Avenue, U. of Toronto, Toronto, Ont., Canada M5S 1A1.
