18. századi agrártörténelem. Válogatásd Wellmann Imre agrár- és társadalomtörténeti tanulmányaiból (Officina Musei 9. Miskolc, 1999)

18th century agricultural history. Selection from Imre Wellman's writings on agricultural and social histort

knowledge, literary experience and severe logics he wrote treaties on the tasks faced by Hungarian agricultural historiography and on the critical work, dona se far, of relevant literature in the Memorial Volume edited by Sándor Domanovszky. From 1933 his scientific career seemed undisturbed and fruitful. In addition to his research activities at the National Archives he continued to work at the university, as well. In 1938 he became qualified as a university private-docent. From 1938 to the end of 1942 he was a co-editor, together with Domanovszky and Hajnal, of the journal called Századok (Centuries). At the age of 36 - comperatively early - when the Hungarian Academy of Sciences recruited new young scientists he was elected a member of the Academy. This was the time when his career came to its zenith. The „year of change" (1949) brought a complete change in Imre Wellmann's life, too. During the reorganization of the Academy he was „downgraded" to be an associate member instead of a permanent one, and then, in 1951 he was completely phased out of the members of the Academy. He was no longer allowed to take part even in lecturing at universities, though in 1951 he was allowed to be a co-writer of a new university handbook. Though he was not older than 40 he was side-tracked. During the reorganization of the National Archives he was in charge of leading the Department of Feudalism. He became immersed in organizational matters. In 1952 he was appointed to be the director of the Archives of Budapest. In this position, too he encouraged the taking of inventories to facilitate research activity. The year of 1956 brought again a turning point in his life The turning point for him was the revolution, more specifically his - not very significant - role played in it. He was the chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of the Archives. So in 1957 he was dismissed as the head of the Archives and transfered to the Archives of Pest County to be a chief arcivist there. He was 45 years old at that time with a considerable scientific background. His career seemed to get wrecked. After the political easing in 1961-62 he became the head of the Department of Agricultural History set up in 1962 at the Museum of Hungarian Agiculture and, at the same time, the head of a scientific research group delegated to the latter. Under the auspicies of the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences an interdisciplinary centre of researches on agricultural history were being formed here. It was the museum which gave room for the board of editors to edit and publish the Review of Agricuoltural History in 1957. In 1965 Imre Wellmann became the deputy general director of the museum coordinating all the researches of agricultural history conducted in the museum. The museum was considered to be one of the workshops enjoying protection of the intellectual life of the 60-ies and 70-ies, where Wellmann was respected not only as a researcher with undiminished energy. The one and a half decades of activity in the museum brought for him besides scientific ahievements, the recognition not only by his fellow scientists - which through his scientific achievements he had already enjoyed - but also by the government in official form. By the end of the 1970 he made his summary of the 18th century development of Hungarian agriculture. It was this very topic, in which he defended his doctorate dissertation in 1982. After the political change in 1989 he regained his membership at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1990. After his rehabilitation at the age of 80 he was put back to his deserved place in Hungarian scientific public life. These recognitions came rather late but were all the more important for him. His career, despite all the hardships and trials remained torsionless unlike that of many of his contemporary collègues. The goals he set before himself as a young man was completely accomplished or even more was done than just their accomplishment.