Szekessy Vilmos (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 56. (Budapest 1964)

Móczár, L.: Dr. Elisabeth Bajári 1912-1963

catalogues of the Sapygidae — Tiphiidae (2), Methocidae — Mutillidae (with coauthor L. MÓCZÁR, 3), and the genus Cerceris (4). Her first large, summarizing paper was published in 1956, wherein she submitted the systematical survey of the above mentioned families (5). In the same year, a fine critical paper left her pen, on the fossorial wasps, a group much changed by recent views as treated in the literature of the last ten years (7). Her first description of a new species appeared concurrently (6), and at the same time she also published the 31 species and 2 varieties of the group new for our fauna, found during the working out of the research material (8). ELISABETH BAJÁRI'S subsequent papers dealt with the ichneumon wasps of the Terebrant suborder, instead of the earlier treated aculeate wasps. There was a long-felt need of somebody caring for the also economically so vastly important ichneumons, ownerless for almost 50 years after the death in 1915 of GY. SZÉPLIGETI of world fame. As the first step of this enormous task, ELISABETH BAJÁRI united the identified materials of the Ichneumonid Collections of SZÉPLIGETI, ZILAHI-KISS, M. MÓCZÁR, and thus founded future work. In possession of a thorough knowledge of literature, she felt her way step by step into the considerably muddled system of the Inchneumonid wasps. She aimed at the working out, for the great serial work Fauna Hungáriáé, of the complete Hungarian wasp fauna, — at least 3000 species. Following TOWNES'S new system, she first reviewed the ZILAHI-KISS and SZÉPLIGETI types of the family Pimplinae, then all the other species. These critical reviews crystallized in 5 papers (9—11, 14—15), containing also the diagnoses of one new species, two new varieties, and three, hitherto unknown males of other taxa. Her greatest work was finished in 1958, the Ichneumonidae within the series Fauna Hungáriáé (13, pp. 266). She had just time to see the publication in the same series of another work of hers, written jointly with J. GYÖRFI (17), expounding the system of the smaller families of the Ichneumonids. The third paper, also dealing with the same group, and still another, smaller one, containing the description of some new species, have just been finished by her; they will be published in the near future. The working out of the tribe Orthocentrini was also almost finished, and she just began work on the subfamily Ophioninae, when her consummate achievements were so inexorably interrupted. As foremost of her duties, she regarded her systematical-faunistical work. However, she amply participated and cooperated in every other Museum project. Collaborating with L. MÓCZÁR, she submitted chapters, in a collective work, on the methods of collecting Hymenoptera (16). She also wrote for the general public, on the life of parasitic wasps (12). ELISABETH BAJÁRI was born 12 August 1912 in Ujverbász. She finished grammar school and university studies in Budapest, receiving her diplom in chemics and natural history. Owing to the disemployment problems of the thirties, she worked first as private tutor, then, for a time, in the Institute of Statistics. She served later (1940) in the auditing office and the Public Education Department (1948) of the Ministry of Education when she was transferred to the Museum, thus having her first chance to go in for a deeper study of her favourite subject, zoology. Her scientific accomplishments of the all too short ten years evoke the appreciation of fellow workers both in Hungary and abroad. As one witness of their esteem is the wasp dedicated to her: Aphidius bajáriae GYŐRFI. Her departure is a heavy loss of Hungarian Hymenopterology. Her memory and the