Full professor Aladar Kettesy, elected to become rector by the University of Debrecen and confirmed in this position by the Minister of Religion and Education, started on September 1st in 1949 his one year rectorship which could ensure professional developments and preserve traditional values of the institution at a time when the autonomy of the university was severely constrained by a sharply changed political system.  In thi difficult historical circumstances he arrived to the university leadership post as a professor of medicine who chaired the ophtalmology clinic for a quarter of a century, represented outstanding professional authority and enjoyed broadly manifested trust in the institution. His internationally recognized clinical and scientific accomplishments of previous as well as later decades, and his fascinating personality made him a legendary figure of the university community.