Apor Éva, Ecsedy Ildikó (szerk.): Hungarian publications on Asia and Africa : 1950-1962 : A selected bibliography = Magyar szerzők Ázsiáról és Afrikáról : 1950-1962 : Válogatott bibliográfia

Előszó (Ligeti Lajos akadémikus, a Magyar UNESCO Bizottság Kelet—Nyugat Albizottságának elnöke)

Introduction Oriental studies have a tradition of long standing in Hungary. The development of their main trends and subject matter were due to two factors: interrelations with various Asiatic peoples, principally the Turks during the early history of the Hungarian people, and, on the other hand, the historical problems of the Osmanli-Turk occupation of Hungary. It was not unexpected that considerable initiatives were taken in this field,, from the very start, by Pál Hunfalvy, József Budenz, Bernát Munkácsi, and Zoltán Gombocz, who were, in fact, engaged in Finno-Ugric linguistic studies, in addition to the research work of the turkologists, Ármin Vámbéry, József Thury, Ignác Kunos, Gyula Mészáros, and other scholars of oriental studies. Oriental philology is a very wide field indeed, embracing studies of all the peoples of Asia, notwithstanding the fact that no systematic work was carried on, practically all the fields of oriental studies were subject to research in Hungary. Thus, mention should be made of the works of Gábor Bálint (Mongolian studies), Sándor Kégl (Persian philology), Ede Mahler (studies in ancient history), Mihály Kmoskó (Semitic philology, assyrology), József Schmidt (Sanscrit literature), and, last but not least, of Ignác Goldziher (Islamic studies) whose achievements are of unparalleled significance even today. Our countrymen, who achieved reputation through their works abroad, among others Sándor Körösi Csorna,. n