Oroszi Sándor szerk.: A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum Közleményei 1998-2000 (Budapest, 2001)
Paikert Alajos: Életem és korom (Egy emlékirat a múzeum Adattárának őrizetében) Közzéteszi: TAKÁTS RÓZSA
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALAJOS PAIKERT, ENTITLED „MY LIFE AND ERA", IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE MUSEUM OF HUNGARIAN AGRICULTURE SELECTED AND EDITED BY R. TAKÁTS Alajos Paikert was a member of the great generation of museum founders. He worked in the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture between 1896 and 1930, at first as keeper, then director. Thus, he was a determinant personage of the first 30 years of the Museum. It was while preparing a small exhibition devoted to his memory in 1997 that we found his autobiography from which we are presenting selected passages. Paikert gives a very vivid and lively description of the facts of his life. He was born in Nagyszombat (now Trnava, Slovakia) on 31st May 1866. After having finished the Catholic grammar school in Pozsony (Bratislava) , he studied agronomy at the Agricultural Academy in Mosomuagyaróvár, then law at the Budapest University. As a second-year law student, he was appointed to professor's assistant in the Department of Anthropology headed by Aurél Török. In 1891, he was offered the post of undersecretary of the Hungarian National Agricultural Association (hereinafter abbreviated: OMGE) . He took an active part in the reorganization of the association. He also contributed to founding the professional journal 'Köztelek' (ca common site) (1891), establishing the Farmers' Co-operative (1891), and starting the daily newspaper 'Hazánk' (Our Country) (1893). He attended farmers' congresses, took part in the organization of various exhibitions and the co-operative movement. In 1892, he passed the examination in political science, and next year he was promoted secretary in the Association (OMGE) . In 1893 Paikert headed a team of experts of the OMGE performing a half-year studytour in North America. In 1894, he participated in starting the journal 'Magyar Gazdaságtörténeti Szemle (Hungarian Review of Economic History) of which he was editor, then from 1897 to 1899 co-editor with archivist Károly Tagányi. In 1895, he made a longer round trip in France, England, Scotland, Ireland and Germany. At the end of 1895, beginning of 1896, Paikert, on the authority of Ignác Darányi, Minister of Agriculture, was a preparer and secretary of the International Congress of Agriculture in Budapest. In December 1896 he resigned the post of secretary in OMGE and was elected honorary secretary. It was in 1896 that the Museum of Agriculture was established and arranged - based on the agricultural material of the Millenary Exhibition - in the Vajdahunyad Castle, then still temporary exhibition buildings. Paikert, who played a key part in these activities, was appointed by Minister Darányi to the first curator (museologist) of the Museum in 1897. Between 1900 and 1903 he lived in Washington working as special economic correspondent of the Hungarian government (Royal Hungarian Agricultural Commissioner). His activity covered the whole territory of the U.S.A and Canada. He initiated an agreement between the agricultural governments of the U.S.A. and Hungary on the exchange of crop estimation data through telegraph.
