Dr. Kubassek János: Cholnoky Jenő természetábrázoló művészete (Érd, 2002)

Dr. János Kubassek: Jenő Cholnoky - a Hungarian geographer and artist - The researcher of Lake Balaton - An university professor in Transylvania

THE RESEARCHER OF LAKE BALATON Cholnoky had loved die lake since his early childhood. Even as an old man he was able to evoke his relationship with the lake in powerful images. During his lifetime, an ambitious project was organised by Lajos Lóczy to study the lake. Lóczy recognised the talent of Cholnoky, and he invited the young geographer to work on studying the limnology and the winter conditions of Lake Balaton. Cholnoky was happy to join the working party, but he also studied the nearby hills, the old church ruins, wine presses and anchorite dwellings. His studies on the physical behaviour of the frozen lake are still relevant today for those people who live there. Cholnoky felt a special responsibility for preserving the natural beauty of the lake and its surroundings. He suggested that the geyser cones on the Tihany Peninsula and the strange rock forms shaped by the winds should be protected for future generations. He also recommended the establishment of the Tihany National Park - although his recommendations had to wait half a century to be implemented. As an artist, Cholnoky often painted the old buildings of the Balaton region in watercolours. He particularly liked painting the different colours of the lake in every season. When he was an old man, he found consolation in painting. These paintings were unknown to the public for long decades. However, his family kept these beautiful pictures and eventually very generously presented them to the Hungarian Geographical Museum in Érd. Cholnoky's aquarelle masterpieces were first exhibited to the public in 1987. AN UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR IN TRANSYLVANIA After returning from China, Cholnoky became an assistant and later an assistant professor at the University of Budapest. He spent a lot of energy on teaching, examining and research. In addition, he gave numerous popular lectures to convince people of the importance of geography and that nothing could be more beautiful than studying the Earth. His university lectures were very popular among the students of other faculties too. Cholnoky's great merit was that he was able to explain with great clarity the interrelationship between geography, the physical environment, the cultural history of civil-