Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 28. (Budapest, 2012)

Magdolna ZIMÁNYI (GYÖRGYI): The Hungarian Room Designed by Dénes Györgyi at the University of Pittsburgh

versity based the program on the contributions of nationality communities in America and no official request for support was forwarded to the governments, both the Hungarian Room Committee and Ruth Crawford Mitchell tried to solicit the help of the Hungarian government along informal channels. President of the Hungarian Room Committee Dr. Sámuel Gömöry wrote a letter to Henrik Hobek, the Hungarian consul in Pittsburgh, on 29 March 1929 informing him of the goal of the University and the Committee to create a Hungarian room and asking for the support of the Hungarian foreign political agencies. Private persons also informed the Hungarian cultural government of the initiative, for instance, the Hungarian language teacher of the university Dr. Klára Fetter.

6 A secondary school teacher of Szeged, Erzsébet Baranyai,

7 who spent a year in Pittsburgh on the minister's scholarship, informed the Hungarian Foreign Political Society of the Pittsburgh plans. A good opportunity for the Hungarian Room Committee was Calvinist bishop László Ravasz's tour of America in late July which also led him to a suburb of Pittsburgh, McKeesport. László Ravasz wrote a letter of recommendation to Kálmán Darányi, undersecretary of the premier's office, about the room. The latter suggested to Count Kunó Klebelsberg on 29 August using state secretary Gyula Kornis's planned American visit in October 1929 for contacts. The Hungarian Room Committee invited Kornis to Pittsburgh and Ruth Crawford Mitchell showed him the building under construction. The consul to Cleveland Dr. Lajos Alexy eagerly supported the project from the start. On 29 October and 27 December 1929

s he sent detailed reports to the foreign ministry, noting that the university was expecting to get the first plans in late January. He adduced lengthy arguments in favour of supporting the room project, because "the University of Pittsburgh will be a veritable Mecca of American students intent on studying the European cultures".'' It is peculiar and incomprehensible why the Foreign Ministry support failed. After talks with Sámuel Gömöry and Ruth Crawford Mitchell the official in charge of Washington, János Pelényi

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0 approved of fund-raising among the Hungarians in America but added: "[...] I do not deem its support from home advisable in view of the fact that the university of Pittsburgh is far from being outstanding among the American universities."" Thereafter only the Ministry of Religion and Public Education backed up the project. Consul Alexy actively promoted the cause of the Room to the end. The competition On 23 December 1929 the Ministry of Religion and Public Education invited architects Ferenc Szablya-Frischauf, Dénes Györgyi, György Kórody, Antal MayerMegyer and Károly Bodon

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2 for a competition with a very close deadline at 20 January 1930, offering 1000 pengő for the winner and 500 for the second-placed plan. The jury was chaired by undersecretary of state Gyula Kornis and included bishop László Ravasz, Baron Zsigmond Perényi,

13 K. Róbert Kertész,

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4 Lajos Ágotái,'

5 Ferenc Helbing

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6 and Miklós Menyhért.

17 Ministerial secretary Dénes Jánossy also contributed to the jury. The committee rejected all the submissions in late January, and called another competition, now only involving architects Dénes Györgyi and Károly Bodon. 25