Study on Domokos Kosáry by Ferenc Glatz

December 15, 2013
In the latest issue of the periodical Magyar Tudomány (Hungarian Science) No. 2013/12 the study by Academician Ferenc Glatz was published on his earlier fellow historian, Domokos Kosáry, who this year would have celebrated his 100th birthday. (The Hungarian version of the study is available here.)

Historian, Reformer – Recollections of Ferenc Glatz on Kálmán Benda

November 22, 2013
Kálmán Benda – Historian, Reformer was the title of the keynote speech held in Tata by historian and academician Ferenc Glatz at the memorial conference organized jointly by the Zoltán Magyary Society for Adult Education and the town of Tata. At the event commemorating the centennial birthday of Kálmán Benda, Mayor József Michl, being also member of the Hungarian Parliament, greeted the multitudinous audience – former colleagues, friends, admirers, family members and the representatives of the media – gathered for this occasion. Speeches were also held by János Sz. Tóth, president of the Hungarian Society for Adult Education, as well as Attila Kálmán, retired lay president of the Cistibiscan District of the Reformed Church of Hungary and former state secretary. Earlier Ferenc Glatz and Zoltán Szász, retired Scientific Council of the Institute of History of the HAS, laid a wreath at the Kálmán Benda memorial plaque.
Here you can read two earlier writings by Ferenc Glatz on the life of the former associate of the Institute of History of the HAS, Kálmán Benda (Benda Kálmán életútja. (The Life of Kálmán Benda) In: A tudomány szolgálatában. Emlékkönyv Benda Kálmán 80. születésnapjára. [Szerk.: Glatz Ferenc.] (In: In the Service of Science. Festschrift on the Occasion of the 80th Birthday of Kálmán Benda. Ed.: Ferenc Glatz.) Bp., 1993.; Emlékbeszéd Benda Kálmánról. (Necrology to the Memory of Kálmán Benda.) História, 1994/4.).
For the ministerial letter (in Hungarian) from February 1990 addressed to Kálmán Benda on the restarting of the adult educational movement at the time of the system transformation see here.

Man with an Upright Spirit – Glatz on Imre Varga on His 90th Birthday

October 28, 2013
The artist Imre Varga who continuous to be actively working even at the age of 90 was celebrated on the occasion of his birthday by his fellow artists, friends and renowned personalities of Hungarian public life at the exhibition venue of his works in Óbuda. The birthday salutes were spoken by the historian Ferenc Glatz, the President of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, György Fekete, as well as Attila Zsigmond, the retired director of the Budapest Gallery.
Upon conjuring up his personal memories on the acquaintance with the artist, Glatz referred to his years as a young historian when during his strive to renew public thinking on history, wishing to replace the “indoctrinated” formulas used by agitprop with phrases using more universal, more European dimensions, he eagerly observed the incentives of contemporary artists, painters, sculptors, film directors, and people involved in television and radio broadcasting. It was at this time when he “came across” Imre Varga and was struck by the works of the artist which attempted to “furtively steal back” the symbolism swept aside by public thinking of that time and to furnish our heroes once again with “human traits”. Later, it was the name of the artist, and not the thematic choice of the work itself, which primarily attracted the attention of Glatz on his search for Varga’s sculptures in Hungary and abroad. From summer 1989 onwards, when for a short period of time their public career followed a parallel track – Imre Varga became a Member of Parliament and Ferenc Glatz minister of education –, mutual respect was further deepened by their joint actions and performances. Since then, their conversations performed either in the office room or in the exhibition venue in Laktanya utca, with time having become the second home of the artist, and usually lasting half a day have contributed to the solidification of their friendship. Ferenc Glatz concluded his salute by stating: “Imre Varga was once pushed aside, then celebrated and even turned into the favourite of cultural policy. Imre Varga, however, remained here and there a righteous and decent person. Why this is of major relevance in the context of the life of contemporary intellectuals? Well, we definitely need such men with upright spirit who stand for the independence of the spirit in society”.
The Corvina Publishing House has lately released an album under the title “Viva Varga!” with the following words: “The energy, vitality, the joie de vivre of his concept of the world, the freshness and liveliness of the artistic oeuvre of Imre Varga vividly contrasts the advanced age of the artist”.

Islam and Politics in the Near East – Academician Miklós Maróth at Europe Club

October 3, 2013
The latest event of the successful discussion series, Europe Club, was once again summoned in the Club Room of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The lecturing guest of the eighth meeting was Prof. Miklós Maróth, Vice President of the HAS. Ferenc Glatz, past president of HAS and director of the Europe Institute Budapest, in his welcome address when elaborating on the idea behind the thematic choice of the discussion said that not only the political and religious background of recent (“Arabic spring”) and current turmoil as witnessed in the Near and Middle East region, as well as in North Africa shall be touched upon in the lecture but it shall also raise the awareness of tangible differences in the development of Islamic and Western civilizations. Academician Maróth presented in his vivid lecture the correlations between religion and politics in the Islamic world from a historical perspective and by going back to ancient times. He also elaborated on the conceptual differences between the Islamic and Western world, especially when it comes to modern, western political ideas and concepts.

Ferenc Glatz on Linguae Francae, Mother Tongue and Cultural Policy

September 13, 2013
Ferenc Glatz, President of the HAS a. D, participated with his lecture Linguae Francae, Mother Tongue and Cultural Policy in the Age of Industrial-Technical Revolutions at the international symposium organised under the heading Roots, Paths, Perspectives – Issues Conneted to the Preservation of the Mother Tongue in the Carpathian Basin and held in the main building of the Academic Commission of Pécs. „We speak here about language but what we really mean are the communities of humans bearing the language” – said Academician Glatz in the introduction to his lecture. In the following he elaborated on four main issues, namely the issue of the linguae francae, mother tongue, tasks of cultural policy and the future of national minorities.
At the two-day symposium (13–14 September) the experts and scholars – linguists, historians, geographers, ethnographers and social scientists – from Hungary and the neighbouring countries discussed topics related to the preservation of language diversity in the Carpathian Basin, the use of mother tongue, language policy, as well as current political questions. The complex assessment of the issue of mother tongue and national identity calls for a revaluation of the questions related to language policy, considering the current geopolitical situation and for acknowledging the need for transnational mobility to the neighbouring countries.

Public Consultation on the Future of International Development Policy

September 10, 2013
Academician Glatz, President of the Public Consulting Committee of the Inter-Ministerial Commission for International Development and Cooperation (abbreviated in Hungarian NEFE), participated at the consultation session held in the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs where representatives of governmental organisations and civil life (70 persons) met to discuss the document presented by United Nation Association of Hungary entitled Agenda on Development following 2015 on the future of international development policy.

Evaluation and Future Projects

July 25, 2013
Under a brain storming which was placed in the Austrian Payerbach and St. Oswald (October 2013th 22-August 2) Ferenc Glatz, the director of the European Institute, and the members of the Scientific Council of the Institute (Horst Haselsteiner, Arnold Suppan Dusan Kováč and the scholar professor (Rüdiger Malli) evaluated the scientific program of the European Institute and its public benefit.
The historical reconciliation in the Carpathian Basin program which was launched in 2007 was particular important. As a milestone of the Hungarian-Serbian reconciliation process they completed and published the Hungarian-English volume entitled Magyarok és szerbek. Együttélés, múltfeltárás, megbékélés. / Hungarians and Serbs. Coexistence, Revealing the Past, Reconciliation. In the meeting they proposed that the studies translated into English could be published in a full institutional book series, too (Begegnungen).  Also the semester program plans for the year 2013-2014 were discussed including the examination of the outbreak of the World War I. in European perspective with the impact of the war on societies living along the River Danube (migration, deportation, border changes and ownership transformation), and on economic live, as well as backwardness of infrastructure in the region (trade, transport, shipping, etc.).

Our fate being Europe – Ferenc Glatz in Free University of Martos

July 20, 2013
On the I. Free University of Martos, Ferenc Glatz, history professor and academician, and Zsolt Németh, State Secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were the guests of Pál Csáky, former President of the Hungarian Coalition Party (2007-2010) and former Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia, sharing their thoughts and reflections on the chances and future prospects of Europe in front of a wide audience in the Árgyélus-house. (Under the honorable guests were among others members of the Council of Human Dignity, Katalin Szili, Zoltán Lomnici and Miklós Szunai; Attila Haraszti Head of Department of the Ministry of Administration and Justice, Consul general Mrs. Éva Molnár Czimbalmos, President József Berényi and Vice-President Iván Farkas of the Hungarian Coalition Party, and Gyula Bárdos, President of Cemadok.)
Upon analyzing the role of language and culture, they agreed that in the European Union both serve as important issues for reaching a breakthrough, though, with an unpredictable outcome. Ferenc Glatz opinion was that the rights of the minorities will less be fought for by the “historical” but rather by the “new” minorities, so it would be useful to cooperate with them. Glatz being an advocate of the concept of culture nation considers that the future of Europe lies with the culture nations, too. As he pointed out: Cultural autonomy strengthens the state. Access to the national language is also a social issue because the very moment when people will not learn in their native language, this means a social disadvantage as compared to the majority nation. Therefore, the importance of mother-tongue education can hardly be questioned.
Background: The Free University of Martos organized in Martos Feszty Park from 18 to 21 July 2013 was intended to set a tradition, following the model of Tusványos in Transylvania, and deal with the issues of relevance of the Hungarians of Upper Hungary.

Danube Land – Institutional Cooperation Project

June 28, 2013
Ferenc Glatz, director of the Europe Institute Budapest (EIB) and Márton Méhes, director of the Vienna Collegium Hungaricum, had a meeting about a possibility of a working cooperation between the two institutes. EIB launched the Danube Program in 2007 which is given priority attention again in 2013; also it wishes to discuss especially nature and water management along the Danube, as well as up-to-date issues concerning this region’s economic, trade, community development and cultural cooperation. In this case the EIB could be a useful partner of the Collegicum Hungaricum in Vienna and its initiative, the Danube Cultural Cluster. Based on the two institutions intellectual base annual workshops are planned to be held in Budapest and Vienna . Furthermore, they would initiate communication with the Institute for the Danube Region (IDM) in Vienna, chaired by the former Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Minister for Education, Erhard Busek, who is the founding professor and active member of the European Institute in Budapest from the start.

Ferenc Glatz Participates at the Events of the Hungarian-Serbian Reconciliation

June 25, 2013
Academician Ferenc Glatz, the Co-chair of the Hungarian-Serbian Joint Academic Commission, was invited by the Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic to participate in the Serbian-Hungarian reconciliation events in Belgrade, Csúrog (Curug) and Szabadka (Subotica).
On 25 June in Belgrade in the Serbian National Library a workshop was organized by the Joint Commission where János Áder Hungarian President and Tomislav Nikolic Serbian President praised the scientific work of the Commission and there Hungarian-English bilingual book was presented entitled Magyarok és szerbek. Együttélés, múltfeltárás, megbékélés 1918–2012 / Hungarians and Serbs. Coexistence, Revealing the Past, Reconciliation 1918-2012.)
On 26 June at the newly set-up memorial dedicated to the innocent Hungarian victims and having been placed at the earlier execution site  of Csúrog – after the presidents of the two countries paid joint tribute to the victims – Ferenc Glatz and Lajos Forró from the Hungarian part of the Joint Commission and Júlia Teleki and Slobodan Markovic from the Serbian part of the same Commission jointly paid their respects and placed their wreath on it. In the afternoon in the Kosztolányi Dezső Theater, the President of Hungary, János Áder,also thanked those who contributed greatly much to the long-awaited joint tribute to the victims (Márton Matuska, Júlia Teleki, István Pásztor, Ferenc Glatz).

 

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