Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 100. (Budapest 2008)

Korsós, Z.: History of the Herpetological Collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum

In the meantime, a huge amount of material arrived from East Africa. KÁLMÁN KlTTENBERGER (1881-1958), famous Hungarian animal collector and hunter increased the number of specimens in the museum by almost one thousand reptile and amphibian specimens between 1902-1919, 1925-1926, and between 1928-1929. Unfortunately, we can not find more exact data, because the inventory books, in which these items were described, were burnt in the fire of 1956 (see later). Even though MÉHELY used some of the material for his osteological papers, in a faunistical and systematic sense, KiTTENBERGER's entire herpetological collection was lost completely unprocessed (BOROS 1959). MIKLÓS VASVÁRI (1898-1945) began his university years in Budapest, and at that time he could already be frequently found in the National Museum studying the collections. Around 1916 FEJÉRVÁRY - university professor and the leader of the Herpetological Collection - gave his attention to him. FEJÉRVÁRY gave him the Eastern populations of the Green Lizard as the topic of his doctoral thesis, which VASVÁRI solved in an excellent way. The more so, that he named a subspecies after his teacher (Lacerta viridis fejervaryi) (VASVÁRI 1926) which is still valid today. In the beginning, MÉHELY also supported the talented young herpetologist, and suggested to TITUSZ CsÖRGEY, director of the Ornithological Institute, Budapest, that he should employ VASVÁRI in his institution, which in fact happened in 1922. But FEJÉRVÁRY and MÉHELY were already on the opposite side in their scientific views (see below), thus VASVÁRI could not defend his doctoral dissertation at the university in Budapest. Instead, he had to move to Szeged, southern Hungary, where Professor BÉLA FARKAS at first also rejected his dissertation, but later VASVÁRI managed to acquire the doctorate title (KEVE 1947). He could not have a scientific job though, so he became a private teacher in Ormándpuszta, Southwest Hungary, in 1923, where he was the first to find the black form of the common European Adder (Vipera berus var. prester) in Inner Somogy county. He sent specimens to MÉHELY, who "accepted it with great joy, and only noted - as Vasvári remembered it - that it is a pity that he has strangled the neck of the snake so much." (KEVE & MARIÁN 1973). From this time on, VASVÁRI totally gave up with herpetology and would not publish anything from his observations. He continued his career as an ornithologist, but his life did not became easier, and at the end of the World War II in 1945, his life ended among very sad circumstances (KEVE 1947). Although the theory of evolution and of the origin of species was widely accepted in the beginning of the century, the probable methods of evolution were best seen in the opposition of two theories named after two famous biologists. In the '20s, the leader of the Herpetological Collections, FEJÉRVÁRY was a follower of LAMARCK'S theory, while his tutor, MÉHELY - who at this time already taught at the university - was devoted to the theory of DARWIN and would not accept any contradictions. Their relationship went awry, and the younger herpetologist became the victim of their disagreements (BOROS & DELY 1968). FEJÉRVÁRY relocated his university teachings to Pécs because of his disagreements with MÉHELY: in 1930, he became the private teacher of the Erzsébet University of Pécs. In the same year, he heard the news about the suicide of his childhood friend BOLKAY (FEJÉRVÁRY 1930). Not much later, in 1932, at the zenith of his career, at the age of 38 he suddenly died as the result of an unfortunate gallbladder operation (Fig. 23). His unfinished works were brought to press by his widow, ARANKA FEJÉRVÁRYNÉ LÁNGH, who also took over the curatorial chair of the Herpetological Collection in the museum.