Full House at New Book Release

The latest book by historian Ferenc Glatz – Konzervatív reform. Klebelsberg, Domanovszky, Szekfű, Hóman, Hajnal [Conservative Reform. Klebelsberg, Domanovszky, Szekfű, Hóman, Hajnal] – was presented by Prof. György Granasztói at the public book presentation and signing organized at István Örkény Bookstore in Budapest. The release of the new book by Academician Ferenc Glatz attracted a large audience leaving no empty chair at the bookstore’s club. Prominent personalities of Hungarian public life attended the event, among them Academician László Lovász, President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Miklós Németh, Prime Minister of Hungary a. D.; the former President of the State Audit Office of Hungary; numerous former ministers as well as leading officials and members of HAS; present and former leading officials of the Prime Minister’s Office; as well as colleagues and fellow-historians of Hungarian academic life.

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Klebelsberg, Domanovszky, Szekfű, Hóman, Hajnal – The Latest Book by Ferenc Glatz

25 Years in Europe – Lecture held by Ferenc Glatz in Pécs

At the General Assembly of the Regional Commission of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Pécs, the academic lecture was held by Ferenc Glatz, the former President of HAS. In his lecture entitled “25 Years in Europa, 1990–2015” he recapitulated the events and proceedings of the past 25 years in Europe as well as their respective interconnections, the performance of the great powers and the changes Hungary underwent during this quarter century from a contemplative perspective.

Tremors of a Generation – Lecture by Ferenc Glatz at the Éva H. Balázs Commemorative Conference

“Tremors of a Generation. Éva H. Balázs and Her Contemporaries” was the title of the plenary lecture held by Academician Ferenc Glatz at the conference commemorating the centennial of the birthday of the internationally renowned historian and university professor, Éva H. Balázs. The centennial commemoration – just as those held in honour of Éva H. Balázs’ contemporaries: Domokos Kosáry (2013), Kálmán Benda (2014) and this year’s conference devoted to Éva néni, as her students used to call her affectionately – represented for Ferenc Glatz a due occasion for staking out the position of this generation within Hungarian and European intellectual life.
Ferenc Glatz started his plenary lecture by offering a glimpse into the family background of Éva H. Balázs – her father was a teacher and author, her mother a belletrist – and following this line, he defined the patterns of behaviour and thought within the family as well as in the broader social setting among intellectuals of the 1910–20s – patterns which would eventually become engraved in generations to come. Glatz referred to the multiplicity of high standard academic schools led by university professors in the 1930s (Károly Kerényi, András Alföldi, Sándor Domanovszky, Gyula Szekfű, Bálint Hóman, István Hajnal, Elemér Mályusz). Éva H. Balázs was the embodiment of the proud bourgeoise, the autonomous intellectual who makes a living by relying on her schooling and educational background. She belonged to the third generation of a professionalizing historical science in Hungary having its roots back in the second half of the 19^th century. Glatz expressed his view that it was presumably the members of this generation – Éva Balázs, Kálmán Benda, Domokos Kosáry, Lajos Elekes, István Sinkovics, György Györffy, Imre, Wellmann, István Szabó, Gyula László, Győző Ember, Iván Borsa, Zsigmond Jákó, István Imre etc. – who in the largest numbers participated in the modernisation projects (structure and organisation of research institutes and collections, mass university education, publication system) that were launched in the period between 1949 and 1970 and in building international contacts in the academic field.

Europe’s Hundred-Year War – Study by Ferenc Glatz on WW I.

“Europe’s Hundred Year War. Questions to Spark Discussion” is the title of a study by Ferenc Glatz published in the volume based on the contributions to the conference commemorating the centennial of the outbreak of the Great War. Glatz condensed his perception on the war in three theses: (1) He refers to Europe’s hundred-year war which in his view is further subdivided into four phases; (2) In the aftermath of the Great War, there evolved the setting up of a new “world order” or a regulated “world governance”. (3) A better understanding and proper assessment of WW I. requires that it is placed in the broader setting of four contemporary factors prevalent in Europe (the world) in the period 1850–2013.
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Ministerial Acknowledgement of the Merits of Ferenc Glatz in Rural Development

Academician Ferenc Glatz received a certificate of honour from the Minister of Agriculture, Sándor Fazekas, for his merits and “active participation in the setting up of the Hungarian Rural Network (Magyar Nemzeti Vidéki Hálózat – MNVH) and his contribution to making the cooperation between the rural stakeholders more effective in the project period 2007–2013.” Glatz participated from the onset in drafting and implementing the project “Dialogue for the Countryside” which was started back in 2005. The centre piece of the project was the idea of establishing a complex rural policy programme by relying on basic principles that would bring together European norms and Hungary’s vital interests. Glatz participated from November 2008 onwards in the work of the then newly established Hungarian Rural Network which was called to life in compliance with respective EU regulations. The Network set as its main goal to disseminate information across Hungary on the basic principles of European rural development policy and to work out best practices in line with the special characteristics of rural areas in the Carpathian Basin. Rural development forums and professional workshops organized by the Network – the network leaders intended to create new forums for the public – contributed to the dialogue between civilians and politicians. Glatz started a new periodical entitled Dialogue for the Countryside with the aim of calling the attention of Hungarian intellectuals, of politicians actively present in the public life of the country and of members of Hungarian civil society on the public benefit of rural areas – and on the importance of priority development projects in the field of settlement structure and the improvement of people’s life quality, natural resources and management as well as production and services in the industrial sector.

The Basic Doctrines of the Lutheran Faith Still Prove Competitive – Glatz at the School Year’s Openi

The Budapest-Fasor Lutheran Grammar School – bearing the name of the famous alee in which it is situated – celebrated the 25^th anniversary of its re-opening. At this occasion the teachers and students as well as the distinguished guests listened to the worship service and the commemorative speech spoken at the school year’s opening. Academician Ferenc Glatz who was minister of culture in 1989 and who held his famous school year’s opening speech back then at the Lutheran school – an unprecedented event in the history of modern Hungary – which had shortly before re-opened its gates after 25 years. At this years’ anniversary celebration Academician Ferenc Glatz evoked the changes that had begun in 1989–1990: the state monopoly on founding public schools was given up and the foundations of the autonomy of schools were laid down. Speaking about the present and the future, he called the attention of young generations to the following: they shall divert their attention to what proves useful from the past and also to what lessons can be learnt from past mistakes; they shall be self-critical, though, at least to an extent deemed healthy and be always willing to resort to self-corrective measures. The historian further emphasized that the 500-year old basic doctrines of Lutheranism – patience, tolerance, work ethics – have not lost their competitiveness, even today in the age of “mass migration” and in 21^st century Europe. The Lutheran Grammar School is widely acknowledged world-wide for “accepting and tolerating students who belong to a different denomination”. This school is not only famous for the transfer of knowledge and the improvement of individual skills but also for the ethical education of its students – and these achievements have earned the school the recognition of modern Hungarian society.
As to the Hungarian version of the school year’s opening speech by Ferenc Glatz on September 2, 1989, see here. As to the recording of the festive event in September 2014, see here.

Facing the Past – Ferenc Glatz Recalling the Aims of the Hungarian-Serbian Commission of Historians

Ferenc Glatz, President of the Hungarian Section of the Hungarian-Serbian Joint Academic Commission, upon leaving his office assessed together with István Pásztor, President of the Alliance of Voivodina Hungarians, and Tamás Korhecz, head of the Hungarian National Council, at a joint press conference held in Szabadka (Subotica) the achievements of the commission of historians reached during the first phase of its activity. Ferenc Glatz recalled how many years it took until the commission, which had been assigned the task of revealing the mass murders of the years 1941–1948, could take up its work, at last. Both the commission’s activity and the research conducted so far would not have been such a success were it not for the commitment and endurance of the representatives of the Vojvodina Hungarians engaged both in cultural and political fields. Besides the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians and the Hungarian National Council, special thanks go to the intellectuals of Vojvodina – archivists, historians, scholars of literature, ethnographers – and their institutions.
The joint academic commission on revealing the massacres of the Second World War will continue its work under the presidency of Academician Károly Kocsis and with the support of its newly elected members.

Archival Studies and History

Following the key note address presented by the former President of HAS, Academician Ferenc Glatz, at the workshop conference of archivists followed closely by professionals and scholars specialized in this field the participants arriving from different corners of Hungary and from the neighbouring countries discussed the changes in the organisational structure and functions of source retention sites – central, district, municipal and church archives – as well as future prospects for cross-border cooperation. (The programme of the workshop conference is available here.)

Praise of the Cultural and Educational Policy Conducted by Civil Society–Letter to Herbert Batliner

Prof. Ferenc Glatz’s essay entitled Europe Institute Budapest, 1990–2013, or the Praise of the Cultural and Educational Policy as Conducted by Civil Society was published in the Festschrift dedicated to Senator Dr. Dr.Herbert Batliner, probably the greatest patron of contemporary times in Europe, on the occasion of his 85^th birthday.
Senator Dr. Dr. Herbert Batliner is also founder of the Europe Institute Budapest and a personal friend of Ferenc Glatz. (This circle of friends includes further the former German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, and the former Vice Chancellor of Austria, Dr. Erhard Busek. As Austrian minister for science and research during the years 1989–1990 and also in later times Dr. Erhard Busek was for Prof. Glatz a reliable partner of cooperation and “brother-in-arms” in carrying out several joint European initiatives – supporting and organizing the teaching of Western languages in Hungary following 1989, the launching of cultural projects on European level as well as within Hungary.)
Ferenc Glatz chose the form and the personal tone of a letter to express his thoughts on the founding and the long-time activity of the Europe Institute. His closing words of what he called a “progress report” read: “In 1989–1990 the region found itself in the centre of public attention all over the world, especially since this was the region where between 1989 and 1992 an end was put to the Cold War. The founding of the Institute, the 20 years of its existence, and activity – your [Senator Dr. Dr. Batliner”s] and our joint enthusiasm, the work we dedicated to it day by day – served exactly this end. Thank God, today in history we represent only a “stage of war of marginal importance”. But does this mean that we have to give up altogether the incentives we cherished for building a Europe and for building society? Undoubtedly, though, climate change, Europe’s economic competitiveness in the global setting, the migratory processes constitute the “big questions” of our times. We, the members of the “World War’s”European generation, however, still have something to say to the world!” (Here, you can read the Hungarian and the German version of the text.)

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