A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 1. - 1958 (Nyíregyháza, 1960)

F. Takács Zoltán: András Jósa

ANDRÁS JÓSA András Jósa was a distinguished physician and archeologist. His life was full of contradictions. He was the son of a man known as a conservator, called in Hungary sarcastically „pecsovics". But he served at fourteen as a national guard in the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848—49. At his fathers request he began his studies as a law student, continued as an agronomist and left the university with a medical certificat. He went on the University of Vienna and founded here the Hungarian Club. He was a county physician and became an archeologist well known in Hungary. He was full of temperament and always restless, András Jósa loved his county and was attached to it. He, the enthusiastic patriot went — as scon as he could afford it — on archeological study trips to Germany, to Paris and to Londpn. He covered his trips in the newspaper of his county „Nyírvidék". In these accounts he pronounced his opinions without reserve. In the archeology he was not a theorist, but he expressed his conclusions boldly, yet with moderation. He never left the ground of facts. In his observations he considered first of all one territory, the territory of his county. He drew a historical sketch of the county and of the great region in it, called Nyírség. He was primarily interested in the relics of the conquering Hungarians. These relics rank among the most precious objects of the museum founded by him. In spite of the fact that he knew the German, English and French languages, he never wrote a paper in a foreign language, albeit in this way a keener interest in Hungarian archeological questions had been much the priority as the independence of Nyírség was expressed — has aroused. So his theory of the civilisation of Nyírség — in which not so never been discussed on an international scale. While studying the museum of Mainz he learned that the civilisation penetrated in the milleniums before our era, from the East into Central Europe which was at this time still barbaric. András Jósa had drawn his conclusions from the historical conditions. His papers had been published in „Archaeológiai Értesítő" (Archaeological Review) and in „Nyírvidék". He was not afraid of the truth, because it was his element in the civil as well as in the scientific life. Zoltán Felvinczi Takáts 17 Nyíregyházi Múzeum Évkönyve I. 257