Vig Károly: Zoological Research in Western Hungary. A history (Szombathely, 2003)

Historical survey 43 Figure 2.23. OTTÓ HERMAN at the 3rd International Ornithological Congress of 1900 in Paris. The wife of ISTVÁN CHERNÉL can be seen in the background GYULA MADARÁSZ representing Hungary {Figure 2.23). Then in 1902, again in Paris, an international agreement on bird protection was signed by twelve European countries (but not the United Kingdom). This was ratified as Act 1/1906 by the Hungarian Parliament.

133 Among those active in Kőszeg in the second half of the 19th century was the grammar-school teacher ALFONZ FREH (1832-1918) (Figure 2.24).

1Ъ4 FREH, born in Kőszeg on August 11, 1832 and raised there, joined the Benedictine Order in 1850. He must have begun his plant collecting by then, because he brought some of the specimens for his great herbaria from the Benedictine abbey of Pannonhalma. He returned to Kőszeg in 1857 after his ordination and remained there for the rest of his life. Apart from researching near at hand, he also made several journeys to the High Tatra Mountains. During his examinations of the flora of Vas County, he kept up close professional relations with his former pupils VILMOS PIERS and ANTAL WAISBECKER and with VINCE BORBÁS. BORBÁS named two species after 133 HERMAN, O. 1906. Az 1902-ik évi nemzetközi madárvédelmi egyezmény és Magyarország (The International Convention for the Protection of Birds Concluded in 1902, and Hungary). Budapest. 134 On his life, see NÉMETH, В. 1933. Fréh Alfonz (1832-1918). A Pannonhalmi Szent BenedekRend Kőszegi Kat. Ferenc József Gimnáziumának Értesítője az 1932/33 iskolai évről 8-11. His death was recalled in the diary of his former pupil, ISTVÁN CHERNÉL: 'My dear former teacher died there, by whom I was first prompted to go into natural history, especially botany. He was the first to collect the plants of our district and he published a list, and then he obtained a fine collection of insects for the grammar school. I treasure the memory of my good teacher with grateful reverence.' CHERNÉL also wrote the obituary of July 7, 1918 in the local newspaper Kőszeg és Vidéke: 'The plants in your herbarium wither and dessicate; but the laurels that you gathered as a man and a teacher will grow green and never dry away.'