Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 100. (Budapest 2008)

Korsós, Z.: History of the Herpetological Collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum

FEJÉRVÁRYNÉ became a curator in 1939, participated in the faunistical exploration of Transylvania reconnected to Hungary in 1940; and she published her results in 1944 (FEJÉRVÁRY-LÁNGH 1944). The zoological researchers had their first opportunity to do research in Transylvania in 1941-42, and the regular research started in 1943. The collectors were IRMAALLODIATORIS, JÁNOS BALOGH, ENDRE DUDICH, GYULA ÉHIK, ANTAL GEBHARDT, ADORJÁN KESSELYÁK, GÁBOR KOLOSVÁRY, IMRE LOKSA, MIKLÓS and LÁSZLÓ MÓCZÁR, SÁNDOR PONGRÁCZ, MIHÁLY ROTARIDES, LAJOS SOÓS, JÓZSEF SZENT-IVÁNY and VILMOS SZÉKESSY. The number of specimens in the material is unfortunately unknown. During the war, both of her (grown-up) children were in the West, so she had to endure the siege of Budapest alone. In 1945, her apartment was bombed, so she moved into the department's building in Baross street. She was entrusted with the task to reorganise the collections, which were moved into the basement after the war, and to watch over the exhibitions. These tasks ate up all of her time, but she successfully finished them; even though, perhaps for her aristocratic relationships, she was dismissed from the museum in 1951. On 13

th of October 1956, 10 days before the Hungarian revolution, she flew to her daughter to Switzerland with official papers, and one year later, she went on to her son to Venezuela. After 8 years, she returned to Europe and donated the result of her South American collections to the Natural History Museum of Lugano, Switzerland. She never came to Hungary again, though she welcomed Hungarian visitors in her home. In 1983, she flew back again to Venezuela, and spent the rest of her life with her family there. She died in 1988 at the age of 90; her grave is in Maracaibo (DELY 1998^, b). On 1

st of July 1950, OLIVÉR GYÖRGY DELY was appointed in the museum next to FEJÉRVÁRYNÉ, and it was soon in 1951 when he took over the management of the collection. DÉNES KLOBUSITZKY (1900-1974) medical biochemist - who worked at the Butantan Institute in Säo Paulo since 1940 - became familiar with the herpetological collection in the time of FEJÉRVÁRYNÉ. In his herpetological works, he discussed the venom activity of the Bothrops-species, but he became world-famous for his medical, physical-chemical, and colloid-chemical investigations. Because of his good relationship with FEJÉRVÁRYNÉ and later also with DELY, he donated a Brazilian snake collection to the museum, which was unfortunately destroyed in 1956. In those rare occasions when he came home to Budapest, he never missed a visit to the museum and to discuss herpetological questions with DELY. He died in Brazil in 1974, and he is also buried there (DELY 1975^). Between the two World Wars, under the general directorship of SÁNDOR PONGRÁCZ ( 1887-1945), detailed guides to the material exhibited in the building of the National Museum were written (PONGRÁCZ 1937*2, b, 1942). We can find two photographs about the systematic part of the amphibian and reptile exhibition (Figs 24-25). But in the famous Africa-room on the second floor, there were beautifully prepared natural dioramas, with specimens of e.g. the Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) (Figs 26-27) and the African Spurred Tortoise (Geochelone sulcata) exhibited. The systematic collection of reptiles was located on the third floor. OSZKÁR VOJNiCH's famous hunting trophy collection (put on permanent deposit by his heir, MIKLÓS VojNiTs) was since 1930 located in Baross street, in the director general's room, except for the giant Indian Python (Python molurus) shot