History paper by Kádár Lynn, Katalin
The Unknown Tibor Eckhardt: Politician, Statesman, Cold War Intelligence Operative
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
The complex life and activities of Tibor Eckhardt have been a subject of my research and publication for over a decade. My book on the American years of Tibor Eckhardt published in 2009 will in 2013 be followed by an expanded biography of Eckhardt's American and Hungarian years as well as a recounting of his activities and collaboration with American intelligence during the height of the Cold War. This presentation will introduce the unknown side of Eckhardt's activities developed from archival material classified until recently.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Katalin Kádár Lynn is a senior researcher at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and an independent scholar based in Budapest and California. Her principal area of research is WWII and the Cold War with an emphasis on Central and East European exile leaders, their organizations and activities.
She earned a PhD from ELTE BTK in 20th Century Hungarian history and a Masters in Liberal Arts from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Her undergraduate degree was earned at the University of Colorado.
Kádár Lynn is the biographer of the Hungarian political figure Tibor Eckhardt. Her book on Eckhardt, Tibor Eckhardt: His American Years 1941-1972 was published in the US (East European Monographs) and in Hungary (L'Harmattan Press). She edited and published Eckhardt's memoir Tibor Eckhardt: In His Own Words in English and in Hungarian. Her most recent book in collaboration with Hungarian historians Károly Szerencsés and Péter Strausz is titled Through an American Lens, Hungary 1938: Photographs by Margaret Bourke-White (English edition: East European Monographs 2010 - Hungarian edition, L'Harmattan Press 2009).
She is the editor of an upcoming compendium of essays on the history of the National Committee for a Free Europe, The Inauguration of Organized Political Warfare: Cold War Organizations Sponsored by the National Committee for a Free Europe which will include her essays on the history of the Hungarian National Council and the NCFE as well as contributions from scholars worldwide. She is currently researching and writing an expanded biography of Tibor Eckhardt, which will encompass his Hungarian years and his wartime and Cold War intelligence activities. The expected date of publication of both books is late 2012, early 2013.
In March of 2011, she was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit (Arany Érdemkereszt) of the Hungarian Republic by President Pál Schmitt.