Professional Biography
I was born in Debrecen in 1942.
I started my university studies on Hungarian – history faculties, later I decided to be a historian and I graduated in history in Kossuth Lajos University in 1965. The issue of my thesis belonged to the field of history of ideas, written on the “nation-concept” of austromarxist Karl Renner and Otto Bauer.
I wrote my PhD dissertation about the revisory nationalism of Magyar Szemle (Hungarian Review) in 1970. The most important chapters of the dissertation were published in Történelmi Szemle (Historical Review) in 1972.
From 1967 to 1973 I worked in the Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the University of Debrecen (earlier: it was a university of medicine and health sciences); I taught philosophy. My relation with sociology started in 1967 when I participated in a research which focused on the political activity of university students. Partly due to this research I changed my job; in 1973 I went to the Department of Sociology which was established in the ‘70s.
From 1973, I did some research works in the field of the history of ideas and intellectuals; based on the researches I focused on sociography ("ethno sociography") and I wrote another dissertation (1981); it was published with the title A népi szociográfia in 1985.
In parallel with the research of the history of Hungarian sociology I dealt with the issues of international history of sociology and history of ideas. Theoretically I focused on the problems of the sociology of knowledge by Durkheim. I spent 9 months at the Centre de sociologie de l'education et de la culture in Paris (October 1991 – June 1992).
I wrote a book titled Durkheim. Tudás és társadalom; it was published in 1996, its manuscript was submitted in 1994 as a dissertation.
I habilitated in 2000; then I became professor emeritus (2001). My work on the history of classical sociology was publishe in 2005.
I have been participating in the work of the International Sociological Association Research Committee on the History of Sociology since 1984;
I held 4 lectures on its conferences. I have contact with French and British Durkheim researchers, I took part on the conferences of British Center for Durkheimian Studies, some of my works were published in the volumes of essays published by the center.
In 1996-98 I was the contractor of TEMPUS project including 7 countries, in 1997-98 I was the Hungarian leader of a French - Hungarian Balaton program. I had a three-month-long research tour at Yale University in the USA supported by Fulbright Commission.
The result was a book on classical sociology.
From 1990 I also participated in the preparation of sociological PhD education; it was launched in 1993. I was the coordinator of the education project (1993-1994); from 1994 I was a teacher belonging to the staff of educators; from October 2000 I was charged with the management of PhD education developed on the basis of new regulations.
I was the leader of a research program in the period of 2004-2006 /OTKA Tudományos Iskolák - Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (Scientific Schools)/. The results were published in an independent volume in 2008.
- deputy director of Sociology Institute (1988-91)
- leader of the Department of history of theory (1992-94)
- director of Sociology Institute (1994-96)
I read in German, English, French and Russian fluently; I have good communication skills in the first three languages, I can write in German and English. I have German language certificate.
(With the widow's consent and contribution.)
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