L. Hably szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 19. 1986 (Budapest, 1986)

Szujkó-Lacza, Júlia; Debreczy, Zsolt: In memoriam Dr. Vera Csapody (1890-1985)

STUDIA BOTANICA HUNGARICA (Antea: Fragmenta Botanica) XIX. 1986 p. 7-12 ín memóriám Dr. Vera Csapody (1890-1985) By J. SZUJKÓ-LACZA and Zs. DEBRECZY (Received November 30, 1985) VERA CSAPODY was born in Budapest on the ?9th of March 1890. She obtained her General Certificate of Education in the Capital's Community Primary and Secondary School for girls in 1908. In the same year she enrolled a course in mathematics and physics at the Pázmány Péter University in Budapest. She finished her studies in 191?. By the spring of 191?, she had already worked as an unpaid assistant in the Institute of Physics on her doctorate dissertation about electrophoresis . "As my father died that summer and our family of many children remained without any income, I decided to resign from my scientific career. Even during my practising year I held a job in the Secondary School for girls in the Andrássy Avenue Budapest. With the help of my former teacher of physics, IMRE KÉPESSY, and my university professor, JENŐ KLT'PÁTHY I managed to get a job in the Secondary School for girls, where I was fortunate to be entrusted with holding the than newly established exercises of physics." The ink could not even dry on her fresh degree when she had to learn a new profession. The first World War began, and for four years she served as a voluntary nurse, for which she later received the "Red Cross silver medal" of the "Patriae ac Humanitati 1864-1914 K. K." foundation. Concerning her "civil" activity, her former Secondary School, (the Capital's Community Primary and High School for girls) employed her as a temporary lecturer for 12 hours a week. In addition, she also taught biology for two semesters in the Institute of Mary Ward's nuns. From September 1916 she began to work as an assistant teacher in the Catholic Secondary School "Sophianum" of the Sacre' Coeur for girls; she was given a full-time teaching appointment only in August 1917. In appreciation of her successful experimental teaching of physics, the government appointed her as a director in January 1936, but she became actually the head of Sophianum only in July 1939. In 1949 the Sophianum was secularized and a new director was appointed to replace VERA CSAPODÉ, who at that time was already 58 years old. The dismissal automatically brought about the loss of her employee rights, including the loss of her right for pension. Looking for a job now she turned to SÁNDOR JÁVORKA in the Hungarian Natural History Museum. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CSAPODY AND JÁVORKA Many of the students and teachers of Sophianum had a passion for fine arts. VERA CSAPODY, who taught mathematics and physics painted water-colours of plants. She started collecting flowers and began to paint water-colours of plants. That period was represented on her first exhibition in 1921, held in the Sophianum. SÁNDOR JÁVORKA, curator of the Hungarian Natural History Museum was invited to this exhibition. Very much impressed by the beauty and likeliness of the water-colours, JÁVORKA