Magyar Hírek, 1985 (38. évfolyam, 2-26. szám)
1985-02-16 / 4. szám
ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND THE PREVIOUS ONE English Language to come to understanding and to declare a joint programme that became the starting point of the democratic JÁNOS GOSZTONYI 1925-1985 János Gosztonyi, the General Sec- I retary of the World Association of I Hungarians died on the 16th of January, 1985 in a Budapest hospital following prolonged ill-health. Gosztonyi was born, in a small village in Western Hungary, as the member of a poor peasant family. Following the Second World War he took part in the distribution of land among the peasants under the 1945 land reform; in 1947 he was elected a representative to parliament. He later held various leading posts in the Hungarian youth movement then, for a number of years, he was a member of the Presidential Council, becoming a member of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Worker’s Party and editor-in-chief of Népszabadság, the Party's daily. As a Deputy Minister of Culture, and Secretary of State in the Ministry for Education, he took an active part in the preparation of the educational reform. János Gosztonyi was a member of parliament and of the Presidency of the Patriotic People’s Front; he was elected General Secretary of the World Association of Hungarians in 1980. He worked assiduously to the very end of his life strengthening the connections between Hungarians at home and abroad. He will be missed by all. The article in the Hungarian section of the previous issue on the Provisional National Assembly opened at Debrecen forty years ago very likely rekindled memories in many members of the older generation. Representatives assembled in the oratory of the Debrecen Reformed Church College at a time when the battle still raged in the Western part of the country. In those dangerous hours Hungarians of the most diverse political views and ideologies were able changes of the months that followed. At the meeting held at Debrecen recently which commemorated the work of the provisional parliament Pál Losonczi, the Chairman of the Presidential Council stressed historical continuity. .. The people of a country in ruins, tired of war, but putting their hopes in the future paid heed to Debrecen” —he said— ’’today the population of a firmly based socialist Hungary, justly confident in the future of the country, is looking back at an outstanding point in its history. Yet, there is something that is the same. The job ahead then and today required the joint efforts of the whole of society, its common creative efforts. The experience is still valid so it is worth recalling the populist movement that took shape in the phase of reconstruction, which involved hundreds of thousands in the public business of the country, of the towns, and villages ... That visibly demonstrated the great strength of the masses freely exercising their political power; we are therefore working now on making Parliament a forum of open and active political life, broadening its legislative activities, debating important plans, and government measures an,d countinuously controlling their implementation.” After this Pál Lospnczi mentioned that the delegation of more power to local government councils allowing them to make substantial decisions on matters concerning their communities was under preparation. The new Electoral Act, which makes the nomination of at least two candidates mandatory in both parliamentary and local government elections, giv- I ing a choice to the voters, will strengthen democracy. Another deci- I sion gives greater and more effective I say to job collectives in manage- I ment, including the election of senior I executives, was also emphasised by I the Chairman of the Presidential I Council. Ferenc Juhász, the poet, and editor I of the monthly Űj írás submitted a I questionaire to leading Hungarian I intellectuals, asking them to state I their opinion on the currently so I timely problem of national identity. I An article summarizing the answer I is printed in the Hungarian part of I our paper, but I should like to give I an idea of the various opinions here I also with some random quotations. István Sőtér, the historian of the literature and writer: “History is not merely a storehouse of political experiences. If culture is seen as the other great source of national identity then it involves not only literature, the arts, and the sciences, but also folk customs, fashions, tastes, occupations, and modes of work . . . Our national identity is being rebuilt, but this building is rising on the foundations of traditions. Tradition is the essence of national identity—but always supplemented by the new shoots that spring from it.” Iván T. Berend, the economic historian: “... the well-intentioned basic principle we took so very seriously, was not as successful as we might have wished, in other words that everybody should look to the beam in his own eye fighting nationalism at home, giving a good example. From time to time—when the rule is not observed by all!—this must be supplemented, just as is done elsewhere, with arguments against nationalism elsewhere, by calling injustice injustice. This is particularly important in the case of a nation, which has minorities living in other countries.” Gyula Juhász the historian: “.. .since the early seventies more and more writings have emphasized that the term nation must cover the universality of Hungarians since the number of Hungarians abroad is as high as half of the population of Hungary. Many abroad as well as in Hungary thought in terms of language, but that is not wholly satisfactory because the language suffers wear and tear not only in the West, but also in the fringe areas of the ethnic body. This is how the idea that belonging to the nation was always a question of feeling began to emerge . . . that the emotional aspect is the decisive ground for people to profess themselves to be a member of the Hungarian nation. This is independent of material conditions, educational level, or social status, but also of one’s location at a particular point of the globe.” An article in the Hungarian part of our journal on the work of Pál Gábor, the noted Hungarian graphic artist who lives in Paris recalled old memories in me. In my younger days—working for the same publishing house as he did—I had many occasions to admire the typography and book-designs of Pál Gábor. I saw Gábor’s work as a continuation of the tradition of Hungarian typography that had its origin in Miklós Tótfalusi. He—very fittingly—established his niche in the history of Hungarian typography as the designer of the “Tótfalusi-medieval” type. Another article in the Hungarian part, on the other hand, may kindle reminiscences in some of the woman readers. It is about Mrs. Kosáry, Lola Réz, the author of popular historical novels woh has just died at an advanced age. Her books were enjoyed by many generations of young girls for nearly a half a century, inspiring them to live good and useful lives. I think the lovely, coltish girl characters, whose hardships somehow always finished in a happy end still recall fond memories in many girl readers who have long since become grandmothers. ZOLTÁN HALÄSZ Medical School at Pécs Following the German language medicine course at the Budapest Semmelweis Medical School a medicine course in English started this academic year at the Pécs Medical School. The thirty-eight first-year students came from five countries: Australia, Iran, Great Britain, Sweden and from the United States. Most of the US contingent of fifteen are of Hungarian descent. > “The professor will be here in a minute, would you please come back after the lecture?” Marian Fráter, one of the American students asked me. No matter that I had professorial leave to interview her, she did not want to miss even a single lecture. “You know, I can really only use my own notes”—she explained. “The foreign students work very hard”—said Professor András Tigyi, head of the Institute of Biology, who is in charge of the ‘English Programme’. We have altogether one hundred and eighty first-year students, thus those from abroad account for barely a fifth, but their presence is very important. Our international connections have always been systematic, but now we’ve got into the lime-light. There are few Three of the 38: Zoltán Schmidt, Marian Fráter and Ronald Jako 28
