The Eighth Tribe, 1977 (4. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1977-03-01 / 3. szám
Page 4 THE EIGHTH TRIBE March, 1977 Dr. I. S. Tuba: ACADEMIC NEWS Introducing Dr. Ferenc Somogyi Ferenc Somogyi occupies an enviable position among the handful of prominent, extremely active and accomplished Hungarian-Americans often quoted by a number of Hungarian newspapers throughout the Free World. In the last five years he has had four major books published, the last one in English. He is an untiring scholar who still finds time to remain actively involved in a number of Hungarian organizations. His recent books have all dealt with Hungarian history, culture or literature without addressing political issues, even though he was once a politician. As a Representative of the Hungarian Parliament he was involved chiefly with the formulation of social and cultural policy at the national level. As such he was external to party politics. While working toward his law degree at the University of Pécs, he engaged in teaching various adult education courses outside the university with the intention of collecting information on the unwritten common law of the Hungarian people. This work led him to study common law wills. As the first of 12 children of Lajos and Mária, his curiosity soon led him to explore the phenomena of one-childism in Hungary, a system of having only one child in a family and aborting all others. (This practice, peculiar to Hungary, grew out of necessity during the Turkish occupation (1526-1686). In fact, the abhorrence of foreign rule and this ingrained reaction against it, coupled with a liberal abortion policy, does much to explain the low birth rate evident in communist ruled Hungary today.) These studies soon led him into a consideration of the multitude of probblems facing the Hungarian village. In 1937 he wrote a scholarly volume in legal history entitled “Végrendelkezés” (Testamentary Disposition). That same year, Ferenc Somogyi was habilitated a professor at the University of Pécs. There in addition to his lectures in legal history, he taught Applied Social Policy and Ethnography, while continuing his studies on Hungarian villages. His work quickly attracted national attention, and in the fall of 1938, instead of a chair at Pécs, he accepted an appointment as the public welfare advisor to Baranya county of Hungary. In 1939 he was elected as the parliamentary representative of Pécs. By 1940 he had achieved prominence through the introduction of the bill of National Welfare and Family Aid Fund. Shortly thereafter he became the acting president of the Fund. Thereafter, in one of the largest British refuge camps, he became the producer and director of the British Red Cross’ Hungarian Theater, an instructor in Hungarian history, language and literature, and Latin at the Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty Hungarian Gymnasium. When it became evident that there could be no return to Hungary, he assisted the British authorities in the administration of emigration matters. He continued his activities by publishing a biweekly, later monthly, newspaper-magazine entitled “Vagyunk” (We Exist), writing High School texts for the students of refuge camp residents, holding seminars, adult educational courses and organizing benefits. The move to America did not bring an end to Somogyi’s involvement in Hungarian activities. He continued to publish “Vagyunk” (until ’56), to write, organize, speak, and often hold radio programs. He was one of the founding members of the Cleveland Hungarian scouting movement. Ferenc Somogyi was instrumental in the organization and direction of a number of cultural organizations, prominent among which were the successful Saint Stephen Free University’s Hungaroligical Department, the Academy of Hungarian Knowledge, and in the establishment and administration of the today world famous Hungarian Association’s Annual Congress and Cultural Conference, and the Árpád Academy of Hungarian Scientists, Writers and Artists Abroad.-—- continued on page 9 —
