Domokos Kosáry

Domokos Kosary [ domokoʃ koʃa ː ri ] ( born July 31, 1913 in Banská Štiavnica, † November 15, 2007 in Budapest) was a Hungarian scientist, historian and university professor. Kosary was 1990-1996 President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Life

Domokos Kosary was known as an opponent of the alignment of Hungary towards Germany during the time of National Socialism. After the end of World War II, he was viewed as too " bourgeois " and ignored by the new communist Hungarian rulers. In the Hungarian uprising in October 1956, he fought for his liberal ideas and activities. The revolt was put down by the arrival of the Red Army. Kosary was sentenced to four years in prison and released in 1960.

Only after the political changes of 1989, he was again step into the spotlight and in 1990 unanimously elected president of the free Hungarian Academy of Sciences; He was re-elected for a second term in 1993. Kosary was considered a driving force in the development of free and democratic laws for the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1994.

His research focused on the recent history of Hungary since the 1930s. In 2006 he headed a commission that prepared the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the uprising of 1956.

He was chairman and later honorary president of the Hungarian Council of the European Movement.

Quotes

• It was the first shocking rebuke to the Soviet Union that the occupied countries can not do anything with it. We Hungarians were necessary so that the empire collapsed later. It would be unreasonable to demand from Western Europe and the U.S. account, [ why remaining passive ]. It is much more important that the world-historical significance of this revolution has been recognized internationally. A satisfaction is above all what has been victorious in 1956: The revolution was put down, but to regain the common European interest, the eastern half of the continent of the Soviet Union, was able to prevail. - Domokos Kosary about the importance of the 1956 uprising