Fehér György szerk.: A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum Közleményei 1992-1994 (Budapest, 1994)

BARTOSIEWICZ LÁSZLÓ: Takács István (1954-1993)

Following the death of János Matolcsi exactly one decade ago István Takács, as the obvious and most able candidate, became the curator of the osteological collection at the museum. By this time, he was also carrying out independent research on the faunal material from a number of archaeological sites. The chronological boundaries of his research were defined by the Roman Period and the late Middle Ages. Eventually, his specialization in ichthyology opened up opportunities for broader international recognition within the ICAZ Fish Remains Working Group. His participation at group meetings in York (1987), Stora Kornö (1989) and Schleswig (1991) earned him many friends and well deserved professional exposure. It was at these conferences where his keen professional interest and ever improving language skills placed him on an equal footing with his fellow archaeozoologists. István Takács devoted more than half of his life to the Osteological Collections of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum. He consciously took on the heritage of János Matolcsi and always acted in the best interests of his workplace. With twenty years of invaluable hands-on experience at all stages of the museum hierarchy, he was appointed deputy director-in-chief there in December 1992. One of his chief ambitions was to take part in the computerization of the Museum's vast and manyfold collections. István Takács was active in several organizations. These included the circle of Friends of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum, the Association of Young Researchers of the Migration Period, the Archaeometric Working Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He was a founding member of the Archaeo-Comp Association and a corresponding member of the International Council for Archaeozoology. He taught at the Agricultural University of Kaposvár and also gave smaller, occasional lectures. At the same time, one of his long time desires was also fulfilled: he now had the means to employ and train an assitant thus directly contributing to the education of a new generation of archaeozoologists. As a genuinely community oriented man, he was active in the Museum's trade union movement. István Takács was a consciencious, helpful and straightforward person. In a paradoxical manner, these were the human qualities which involved him in numerous, often contradictory situations. He was left with no devices to alleviate the mounting pressure of accumulating conflicts. As he had often hinted recently, he could not keep up with the multitude of conflicting responsibilities. In spite of his popularity, the feeling of inadequacy had its fatal consequences. His unexpected death, however, is not only a tragic private matter to his family, friends and closest colleagues. The broader community of archaeozoologists lost an energetic and dedicated expert at a time of fading appreciation, dwindling support and job cuts affecting our field in many otherwise outstanding institutions. L. Bartosiewicz