Péter Somlai

Biography

I was born  in Budapest in 1941. I was a student  at the Faculty of Arts in Eötvös Loránd University between 1960 and 1965; I chose Hungarian - history, later philosophy  as  fields of specialization.

After finishing my studies, I started my tutorial and scientific work at the Department of Sociology, from the second half of the 1960s. I have been teaching sociological theories, family sociology and other subjects in the Institute of Sociology and Social Policy since 1970. I was the head of the Department of the History of Sociology (1990-1992 and from 1994 to 2006). I became Professor Emeritus after obtaining my habilitation in 1996. I was a teacher and supervisor of PhD doctoral programs organized at the Institute and Eötvös Loránd University. I was the active participant and member of the organizing committee of the National Scientific Students’ Associations Conferences and of the editorial board of sociology journals. He also was the curator of many associations related to science or teaching.

In 1998 I gained Széchenyi  Scholarship (for professors). I have been teaching as a pensioner Professor Emeritus in Doctoral School of Social Policy since 2011 and I am the president of the Doctoral Advisory Board of the Faculty of Social Sciences at  Eötvös Loránd University. My academic dissertations include Theory of family relationships (1983) and The theory of socialization (Dissertation at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1998). In 1986 I taught for six months at the Purdue University (USA) and in 1992 also for six months at the University of Hamburg.
I was the member of the editorial boards of some publications such as  "Szociológiai füzetek",  "Szociológiai Szemle”,  "Esély" and "Társadalomkutatás". I have membership in the presidency of the Centre for Family Research (CFR)  and in the Centre of Family Research of the International Sociology Association, in Hungarian Sociology Association  and  Sociology Committee of  Hungarian Academy of Sciences.