Gábor Ujváry's presentation on Transylvania in Transylvania
Presentation in Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc, RO)
The next invitee of the Extraordinary History Lessons lecture series of the Balázs Orbán Academy is our colleague Gábor Ujváry. The title of his lecture is Hungarian Academic Life in Transylvania: 1940–1944.
Location: Tamási Áron High School, Nyírő József terem (Hall), Márton Áron tér (Square) 4, Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc, RO)
Date: 6 PM on (Tuesday) February 19th, 2019
Transylvania, the Partium and the Banat, three regions of the Kingdom of Hungary that were handed over to Romania through the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, had always played a major role in Hungarian cultural and academic life. It is enough to take into consideration the contributions of the cities of Kolozsvár, Marosvásárhely, Nagyvárad, Arad and Temesvár (Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureș, Oradea, Arad and Timișoara, respectively), with their great foundation of Hungarian schools, public collections and associations.
In the wake of the Second Vienna Award, which returned northern Transylvania to Hungary on August 30th, 1940, the Hungarian government initiated a program to support and further develop Hungarian cultural and academic life there. Through the efforts of this program, the Franz Joseph University opened in Kolozsvár in October 1940, the Scientific Institute of Transylvania was founded, the Transylvanian Museum Association was reorganized, Hungarian education and public collection networks were promptly strengthened and the 1943–1944 Szeklerland Year of Art was officially opened in September 1943. The latter events series ran until June 1944; myriads of academic and cultural programs, including exhibitions, theater and opera performances, concerts, literary readings etc., were held in the Szekler cities of Marosvásárhely, Székelyudvarhely, Csíkszereda and Sepsiszentgyörgy. All of the most esteemed artists and scientists from Hungary were invited to participate.