Szirácsik Éva (szerk.): A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum Közleményei 2018-2019 (Budapest, 2019)
Matits Ferenc: Lippóczy Norbert - két ország mecénása
Norbert Lippóczy, a patron of two countries MATITS FERENC Norbert Lippóczy (1902, Tállya — 1996, Tarnów) was born in the Tokaj region, acquired a degree in agricultural engineering in Debrecen and settled in Tarnów in 1929, where he married a Polish woman and had a child. In his second, chosen, home he became a successful businessman dealing in Hungarian wines until World War II. During the war he became a Soviet POW, and was condemned to prison and work camp after an escape attempt. He could only reunite with his family in 1953. This paper, which gives an outline of his collecting activities, presents the beginning of his collections, their scope and their fate. Three years after his return from captivity he donated to the Museum of Ecclesiastical History in Tarnów his valuable stained glass collection, amounting to 200 items, as well as his Hucul potteries. The main recipient of Lippóczy’s patronage was the town of Tarnów, receiving his folk art and ex libris collections, Bern and Petőfi mementoes and books. The local municipal library received his famous Kalevala collection as well. Of his 30,000 item ex libris collection Lippóczy donated the largest part, around 20,000 pieces, to the Museum of the Tarnów Region, while some of his furniture and paintings, viticulture related ex libris and prints, wine labels and books on viniculture were acquired by the Museum and Library of Hungarian Agriculture in Budapest. Our museum organized several exhibitions of his ex libris collection, both in Budapest and several major Hungarian towns as well as abroad, including Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria and Italy. It is known that Lippóczy sent viticulture related ex libris to the Wine Museum in Zielona Gora and the Fukier Museum in Warsaw. He became an honorary citizen of Tarnów and received several Hungarian decorations. In Tarnów a street and a tavern were named after him, and both his homes in Tarnów and Tállya are marked with memorial plaques. 233
