Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1986 (14. évfolyam, 47-50. szám)
1986 / 47-48. szám
HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER No. 47-48 ISSN: 0194-164X SPRING-SUMMER, 1986 Published quarterly by the Hungarian Research Center of the American Hungarian Foundation: Winter, Spring (two numbers included), and Autumn. Founder and editor: Bela Charles Maday; Managing editor: August J. Molnár. Communications concerning content should be addressed to the Editor, 4528-49th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20016. Communications concerning subscriptions, advertising, and circulation should be addressed to American Hungarian Foundation, 177 Somerset Street, P.O. Box 1084, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903. Annual Subscription in the U.S.A. $5.00. Abroad $7.00. Current single copy $3.00: back isues $3.50 each. SOROS (Continued) Hungarian law has no provisions for independent foundations as yet. Therefore, the Foundation has been incorporated in New York, and the activities in Hungary are carried out under the guidance of a committee jointly created with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Programs currently in effect fall into two categories: awards in dollar amounts and awards in forint amounts, either as outright grants or as loans. A program which would extend dollar grants for study outside of Hungary is on the drawingboard and some minor stipends for attending conferences or workshops have already been made. As far as dollar programs are concerned, the following areas were defined as being of interest: management training; procurement of foreign language books; video programs; travel to conferences and workshops abroad; popularizing Hungarian culture abroad; language instruction; literary and scholarly translations; and computer education. Listing of some awards may assist the reader to appreciate the depth and extent of the program. Dollar Grants (1) The National Management Development Center received a $180,000 grant to improve its training programs; (2) The Postgraduate Training Center of Marx K. U. received $150,000 to establish and improve its computer-related training program; (3) The Eötvös L. U. received a $70,000 grant to establish management-related training; (4) A grant of $200,000 was extended to 188 libraries for the purchase of books; (5) $400,000 was given toward the purchase of copy machines for academic, trade union, and research libraries (113 machines $3,370 each); (6) Improvement of English language education; (7) To make video facilities more accessible; (8) A grant was given toward the publication of a Hungarian issue of Translation magazine (Columbia U.); (9) The Foundation sponsored a rotating internship project between Hungarian TV and NBC TV, New York; (10) The purchase of ultra-sound equipment to be used in tumordetection, about 80,000; (11) The Inst, of Experimental Medicine, HAS, was granted a $30,000 spectrophotometer; (12) The HAS was granted $12,000 for travel expenses for their members. Forint Grants (1) The Dept, of Sociology of the Marx K. U. of Economics was granted 700,000 forints toward writing and publication of research papers dealing with modernization in Hungary; (2) The Ervin Szabó' Library of Budapest was granted 120,000 forints to prepare bibliographies on Oszkár Jászi and Károly Polányi; (3) The library of the Reformed Church at Kecskemet 2 was granted 154,500 forints to update its system of conservation and classification; (4) 50,000 forints were given for the investigation into the history and lives of gold-panning Gypsies in Transylvania; (5) A 120,000 forint scholarship was granted for the study of Czech and Slovak national consciousness in the mid-nineteenth century. Art, Music, Theater The Csiky Gergely Theater of Kaposvár was granted 1,020,610 forints for a video studio. (2) The Szkéné Theater in the Technical U. of Budapest received a grant of 1,200 forints and $10,000 to update its technical equipment and to subsidize the annual International Theatre of Motion Festival hosted by Szkéné. (3) The Cittern Club of Budapest was granted 480,000 forints to get technical equipment. (4) The Kodály Folk Dance Group was given 500,000 forints to buy costumes and instruments. (5) Pannónia Film Studio was granted 250,000 forints to defray the expenses of participants in workshops organized for animation film-makers from Western and Eastern Europe. (6) Visiting foreign scholars and artists received 25,000 to 98,000 forint grants for touring the country. (7) The Budapest Association of the handicapped was granted 800,000 forints to purchase a computer, which should facilitate rehabilitiation programs. These are only examples, mind you, not a complete list of awards. The report contains appendices which include the text of the agreement concluded between the Soros Foundation and the HAS; the names of 14 versions, who received scholarships in the social sciences; 23 awards extended to persons in literature; a list of the institutions receiving copy machines; and a detailed financial report. Grant applications may be submitted in the following six categories: (1) Scholarships in literature; (2) Scholarships in the social sciences; (3) Forint grants; (4) Dollar grants; (5) Support for publications in foreign professional journals; and (6) Support for conference attendance abroad by young professionals. For further information write to The Soros Foundation, 330 West 58th Street, Suite 4 L, New York, NY 10017 or call 212-757-8560. BOOKS Berend Iván T. and György Ránki. THE HUNGARIAN ECONOMY in the Twentieth Century. Croom Helm Ltd. Provident House, Burrell Row, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1AT. England, 1985. 316 pages, biblio. £25.00 Volume in the Croom Helm Series on the Contemporary Economic History of Europe, ed. by Derek Aldcroft. Although the economic system in Hungary is planned (socialist), the government introduced market elements, profit-motivation, and concepts, which found no acceptance by the advocates of Soviet-type systems. This volume traces the development of the Hungarian economy throughout the twentieth century, beginning with a discussion of its role in the Habsburg Empire, when it was mainly an agricultural country. The authors analyze the ecomomic problems of the 1920s and the catastrophic effects of the depression and World War II. The post-war reconstruction which paralleled radical socio-economic changes is also discussed. Examined are the consequences of the introduction of the Soviet economic planning model, the associated policy of forced industrialization and the reforms of 1956,1965-68 and 1978- 79, which altered this model into its present. When discussing the effect of systems on the individual, the editor states in the NO. 47-48, SPRING-SUMMER 1986 HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEW5LETTER
