Dr. Béla Fornet is a school-creating professor at the University of Debrecen who, through his directness, created an intimate atmosphere not only in his clinic, but also in the University Council during the rector's term. According to the theological dean István Török, "recognizing the need for social transformation during his rector's activity, he made greater concessions than the predecessor of any rector at the expense of previous inherited forms." As a result of his foresight and directness, in addition to the trust of the patients, he enjoyed the confidence of both the students and the professors during his rector's activities. In recognition of his outstanding professional work, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Debrecen established the Béla Fornet Commemorative Medal. In this way, the example of a determining school-creating professor in terms of development of the Faculty of Medicine, will help to address the challenges of today by setting an example for the present generation.

Béla Pukánszky, Literary historian. germanist, corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, was a professor at the University of Debrecen from 1941 until his death. He was the Head of the Department of German Literature at the university; he was dean of the Faculty of Arts in the academic year of 1947/48 and rector of the university in the academic year of 1948/49. Due to his unfortunate, early death at the age of 55, he worked at the University of Debrecen for only nine years, but he was known and recognized far beyond the walls of the university through his scholarly work.

In the first phase of the history of the Faculty of Humanities, University of Debrecen, several lecturers were in close connection with arts. This study intends to introduce primarily the musical significance of Professor Béla Pukánszky from Pozsony. In the course of the research, I attempted to read and process the surviving documents of the personal legacy along with the critiques, reviews and jubilee studies written by contemporary scholars and colleagues. In Béla Pukánszky’s case, I relied on the documents preserved in the Manuscript Archive at the University of Debrecen (minutes, concert invitations, handwritten and typed music history performances), and especially on his wife’s correspondence. As a result, I report on Béla Pukánszky’s art-related scholarly and educational pursuits as writer and lecturer, and demonstrate the proactive role he undertook in the artistic life of Debrecen, Budapest, and the whole of Hungary. Thus, my work contributes to the previous research results on the important activities of the faculty’s and the town’s nationally outstanding intellectual circles in the fields of cultural history, cultural education and art patronage.

A tanulmány bevezetésképpen a disputációkutatás utóbbi két évtizedben tapasztalható fellendülésével foglalkozik, ami a könyvtári katalógusok és a nagy szöveg-korpuszok digitalizálásának köszönhetően a kora újkori disszertációk gyorsan előrehaladó feltárását tette lehetővé, valamint megemlékezik az e szövegműfaj szempontjából meghatározó szomszédos diszciplínákról, a logikáról és a retorikáról, s felvillantja ezek egymáshoz való viszonyát. Az ezt követő fejezetek a 17. és 18. századi disputációs kultúrát vizsgálják a greifswaldi, rostocki és königsbergi egyetemeken, valamint a gdanski Athenaeumban. Mind a négy főiskola esetében kimutathatók sajátosságok: így Greifswaldban a német nyelv eseti használata a disszertációkban, Rostockban a disputatiókkal összefüggő jogi program-szövegek feltűnő gyakorisága, Gdanskban a disszertációkban fellelhető gratulációk gazdagon fejlett kultúrája, míg Königsbergben a a filozófiai fakultás disputációs irodalmának széles műfaji spektruma tekinthető jellegzetesnek.

Research into the history of university travel abroad, or peregrination, is an important topic for all European nations. The European centre, the countries to which university mobility from the periphery was directed, had primarily host universities, and it is important for them to study their own links and their own sphere of attraction. This is particularly the case for universities in Italy, France and Germany. However, they are also examining their own university visits in relation to other regions of the centre. Some of the countries at the northern, eastern and southern ends of Europe were relatively early in the development of their own universities, but still sent large numbers of students to universities in the centre countries, so researching this is also important for them. For example, for Spanish and Portuguese historiography, the study of the French and Italian university itineraries is an important issue. In the older states of Scandinavia and Central Europe, although universities were established relatively early, they were not permanent and the vast majority of intellectuals from these nations were educated in foreign universities. This is particularly true of the smaller European states that became independent in the 19th and 20th centuries, and it is even more important to examine the development of their national intellectuals. This paper addresses these issues by presenting research on the subject.

This paper deals with the Hungarian-related entries of János Filiczki's album amicorum, which were inscribed during his European peregrination between 1600 and 1616 by Adam Kunisch, Johann Frölich, Sebastian Ambrosius Jr., István Miskolci Csulyak, Joannes Bocatius, Albert Szenci Molnár, Johannes Blofus, Maximilianus Fabinus, István Debreceni Dormány, János Keserűi Dajka, Gergely Váradi Farkas, Gregor Tribel Jr. and Elias Berger. Examining more closely the entries, new information and details can be gained about the life and studies of some inscribers, especially the young representatives of the local intellectual class: Sebastian Ambrosius Jr., Maximilianus Fabinus and Gregor Tribel Jr..

The study presents the remarkably small number and content of documents of the relationship between the Royal Hungarian University of Debrecen and Count István Tisza, a Hungarian politician. The presented period lasts between the beginning of the university's operation in 1914 until the politician's death on October 31, 1918. It also mentions the relevant elements of this relationship before and after the four-year period.

István Csűry was one of the most educated people in Hungarian library affairs, with an extensive professional experience, sensitivity towards problems, and also an initiating worker with an unprecedented receptivity to new endeavors. István Csűry’s first and only workplace was the University Library of Debrecen, where after about a decade of working as a librarian, served as director from 1956 until his death, and elevated the institution to a second national library. The study reflects on the library areas where István Csűry has achieved essentially new results.

Unexpectedly, during the summer of 2021, we obtained the book legacy of Professor Péter Adler. Professor Adler was the leader of the Stomatology Clinic between 1946-1978 in Debrecen and he was an internationally recognized specialist. As part of the legacy, we also received an American dental journal. The issue of 1947, which included an anonymous article written by a Hungarian dentist. It reports on his ordeal during the years of the 2nd World War. It is clear from the data and descriptions that Professor Péter Adler wrote the publication. It is a thought-provoking reading, but it shows of course a somewhat subjective approach and it should be noted that it was written for foreigners, primarily Americans. Its peculiarity is that it has not appeared up till now anywhere in Hungarian - as far as I know. His publication at the time can be dated to the beginning of the Cold War, which may explain why the author requested anonymity. The article contains important gap-filling information for the better understanding of the era.

Count József Degenfeld took on a decisive role in the establishment of the University of Debrecen on the one hand as the major of Debrecen and on the other hand as the chief guardian of the Trans-Tisza Reformed Diocese. The state university has already expressed its honour symbolically in his life by providing the solemn address as a church official at the inauguration of the reception building in the presence of the royal couple. When he died it issued a special obituary acknowledging him as ”the best worker of the university’s establishment”.

Book review by Vincze Tamás

Book review by József Mudrák

Book review by Ádám Hegyi

A bronze relief was unveiled in the corridor of the Department of Traumatology of the University of Debrecen in memory of Zoltán Záborszky (1927-2020), the founder of the department. Zoltán Záborszky MD was the Head of the Department from 1987 to 1993, but after his retirement he remained active until 2016 as Professor Emeritus. His consistent medical activity, enthusiastic teaching, precision, and benevolent rigor were respected by all. The relief depicting the smiling face of Professor Záborszky was based on donations of the staff of the institute and the Foundations supporting the work of the Department.

Farewell to Andor Ladányi by László Szögi