Dr. Balázs Dénes szerk.: Földrajzi Múzeumi Tanulmányok 7. (Magyar Földrajzi Múzeum; Érd, 1989)
ÉRTEKEZÉSEK - Dr. Dank Viktor: Bandát Horst (1895—1982)
Bandát Horst Celebeszen ( Banimungu-Batu ) 1935-ben (Néprajzi Múzeum, Budapest) HORST VON BANDAT (1895—1982) Horst von BANDAT was Hungarian by birth, and preserved his nationality also as a Hungarian citizen. He worked not only in Hungary but also in Europe and the States upon appointment of foreign firms, not to mention the tropical areas. Already as a U.S. citizen, he kept close contacts with Hungarian geologists. He was an outstanding personality of the profession in both countries to his death. He was born in Budapest in 1895. He finished his studies as a geologist at the Péter Pázmány (today ELTE) University. He obtained his doctor's degree in geology, mineralogy and chemistry in 1921. After graduating he worked with Prof. Dr. Károly PAPP as assistant, and then he became private docent in tectonics. Upon invitation of the Shell Firm he took part in the oil exploration in Albania where he also carried out palaeontological investigations. In 1926 he prospected for oil in Galicia. In 1927 he studied serpentines and Sb occurrences in the vicinity of the Austrian —Hungarian border. From 1928 on he worked for the Shell again, first as field geologist, then as chief of the project. Between 1929 and 1932 he worked as geologist adviser for the petroleum explorations in Sumatra. He also worked in the Hartz Mts. of Germany in 1932, and in the Memudoje Province of Celebes he carried out geological mapping. An account of this activity was given in his book / am exploring for oil in Celebes (1943). He took part in an aerial photographic survey expedition upon the invitation of the Shell Standard Pacific Co. on the island of Borneo. The report, prepared in cooperation with N.E. WEISBORD is the first important aerial photo interpretation in geology as well. Between 1938 and 1940 he evaluated for the oil exploration possibilities of the Larger Caribbean region and worked also in New Guinea. After World War II he took part in restarting geological surveying in Hungary, then he joined the Gulf Oil Corp. and settled in the United States with his wife, Jessie von BANDAT, a U.S. citizen. Here he worked for the Gulf Oil till 1956. Among others, he worked in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq, Tunesia, Libya, Sicily, British Honduras, Peru, Bolivia, and several states of the U.S.A. In 1962 he published his book on Aerogeology that is still one of the best in this subject. Even at his older age he was mentally fresh and recognized the geological importance of space photos. By making use of ERTS Landsat images he re-evaluated the tectonical-geological views that were valid in the 1930s in the areas he personally studied. Horst von BANDAT an expert of petroleum geology died in Paramus and is buried in the local George Washington Memorial Park. Upon his memory his wife, Jessie von BANDAT, established the Harst Bandât Foundation. From its interests young Hungarian geologists, by way of competition, may travel abroad to enrich their knowledge. A memorial tablet of Horst von BANDAT was inaugurated at the Hungarian Geological Institute in Budapest (1988), in the presence of Jessie von BANDAT, and there was also a scientific meeting dedicated to his memory. Representing his interests also in other fields like ethnology and biology, several items are exhibited in the Museum of Ethnography, and the Hungarian National Museum of Budapest.
