Abstracts of Submitted Papers 2015

The Charitable Bank: Fáy András and the First Domestic Savings Bank of Pest

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Before 1848 in Hungary society was divided legally into four groups of people: prelates, lords of the realm, lesser aristocrats and city burghers. These identities had existed since medieval times, but they no longer completely reflected changing social realities. Identities stubbornly refuse to correspond to limited boundaries or borders. The peasants were excluded from the protection of the constitution, as were new social groups on the scene, such as the middle classes and the working poor urbanites.
One person who saw this problem and attempted to do something about it was Fáy András. He thought that the elimination of economic barriers or borders between advantaged and disadvantaged social groups would help bridge the gap between the poor, the middle classes and the aristocracy. Common embourgeoisement would produce greater social harmony, which would in turn produce a renewed, more unified county. To this end, he was instrumental in founding a portion of the savings institution which would grow into the OTP we know today.
Fáy’s vision of social cohesion through elimination of income inequality scuttled, unusually, as a result of its own success. Where did he go wrong? This subject has a special timeliness, because the notions of the Hungarian middle classes and what constitutes poverty have become the subject of renewed social discourse.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Eva Bodnar received her PhD degree in March 2011, in History from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; M.A. in History in 1999 from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario; and B.A. Honours in Comparative Literature and History from McMaster University. Her scholarly fields are Nineteenth Century Hungarian History, Habsburg History, the Reform Era of Hungary, and Revolutionary Europe.

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Nicholas L. Deak, the Hungarian “James Bond of the World of Money”

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
An article on Nicholas Deak published in the June 12, 1964 issue of Time magazine is the source of this moniker. His bio in brief: Nicholas Louis Deak was born in 1905 in Hateg/Hátszeg, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, immigrated to the USA in 1939 and was murdered in 1985. In between these dates, Deak had an exciting life, though not as violent as Bond’s, from joining the OSS during WWII to establishing Deak & Co after the war. His holdings grew from a small export-import firm in 1946 to a financial empire in the 1980s which included currency exchange offices all over the world, banks in the US, Switzerland and Austria, and various other trading houses. As Deak & Co grew newer and newer business were added. From the mid1970s the company was often in the news, but the news were frequently bad. The IRS investigated the firm’s currency exchange operations and was found violating the Bank Secrecy Act (1970) and aiding money laundering activities of drug dealers. The Congressional hearings (1976) on corporate corruption exposed the firm’s role in the Lockheed bribery scandal. As customers “ran” from the firm, Deak & Co was forced into bankruptcy in 1984. In 1985 he was shot dead in his office, by a woman, with no conclusive motive for the murder. Although the following year the firm emerged from bankruptcy, without Deak at the helm, in a couple of years, however, it disappeared from the scene. This presentation will look at Deak’s life and analyze how he and his firm reacted to and tried to influence the changing financial landscape.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Professor of Economics at St. John's University.

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Egy kezdeményezés kiteljesedése

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
A kommunista diktatúra 1989-es bukása után Romániában hatalmas energiák szabadultak fel, társadalmi, kulturális élet terén. Negyven év lemaradását kellett bepótolni. Óceánon átívelő segítségnyujtás a közös munka gyönyörű példája az 1991-ben elkezdődött és ma is tartó Torockó-program.
A Torockó-program egy ifjúsági szabadidőközpont létrehozásával kezdődött. Az évek folyamán kiteljesedett Torockó népi építészetének kutatásával, faluturizmussal, múzeumfelújítással, galéria létesítésével amely időszakos kiállítások rendezésének biztosít keretet. Az immár húsz éve tartó munka számos torockói tárgyú könyv megjelenését is lehetővé tette.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Hantz Lám Irén 1958-ban a Bolyai Tudományetem Geológia-Földrajz szakán szerzett diplomat. 1961-1969 között a Babeş-Bolyai Tudományetem Földrajz szakán volt gyakornok. A fizikai földrajz tárgyköréből jelentek meg szakdolgozatai. Doktori tézisét a Rév-Báródi medence fizikai földrajzi jellemzéséből írta. 1969-től a Georghe Lazâr Pedagógiai Líceum tanára volt, majd 1984-től a Brassai Sámuel Líceumban tanított, nyugdíjba vonulásáig. Tanári tevékenysége alatt a romániai magyar sajtóban ismeretterjesztő cikkeket írt. 1998-ban a Torockó utikalauzzal jelentkezett, amit több más, irodalom- és helytörténeti könyv követett.

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Imre Kiralfy and the 1910 Japan-British Exhibition at the White City, London

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Hungarian-born Imre Kiralfy (1845-1919) had created such success with the popular Earl's Court exhibitions in London, staged between 1885 and 1903, that he was given the task of leading the Franco-British Exhibition in 1908, for which he devised and created the White City site. This was to be the first of a string of Kiralfy-led White City productions which went on for some six years.

Kiralfy was a recognised showman and promoter in England, the United States and continental Europe. He utilised a formulaic approach to the successful creation of the spectacle, and by the time of the Japan-British Exhibition in 1910, he had a number of fairs and exhibitions to his credit.

He was fully cognisant of the potential of Japan's popularity with Western audiences. The craze for all things Japanese was at a high point, and crowds arrived in 1910 at the White City site from all over the United Kingdom, as well as from continental Europe.

In this paper, I will examine Kiralfy's extraordinary showmanship skills as they relate to the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910. During the period from May to October of that year, Kiralfy was able to attract over eight million visitors, exceeding even the numbers which turned out for the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, which was widely acknowledged to have set the standard by which all other expositions were judged.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Dr Susan House Wade is an independent scholar based in London, England. She has studied in both the United States and in England, having received a Master's degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, and a PhD in Design History from the University of Brighton. Her doctoral thesis topic related to the representation of Korea and Japan in print and in visual imagery in England during the period 1910-1939. Susan's current research interests include the phenomenon of the great exhibition/exposition, as well as the impact of orientalism, in the broad sense, on popular culture in the early 20th century.

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The Originality of Loránt Hegedüs

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
While analyzing the crises of the 20th century and their effects on the Hungarian society, I became aware of a stereotypic characteristic of the Hungarian society, namely: passivity. The reason behind this could be that “We can never decide our own destiny”, since our revolutions failed and we got the circumstances shaping our lives ready, just as we did with our paternalistic leaders. As Loránt Hegedüs Minister of Finance 1920/21 was nearly fifty years old when he witnessed the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the First World War, the Bourgeois Democratic Revolution, the Hungarian Soviet Republic and the collapse of the world economy in 1929, he followed a different behavioral pattern, or rather, a different coping strategy. From his writings and economic plans, a different world view and set of values stand out. Because of these special personal characteristics he was able to effectively react and respond to the challenges of that time. The significance of his plans for the economic and financial reconstruction was recognized by American economists as well and the Columbia University requested his help to overcome the postwar financial challenges in the USA. The originality of Hegedüs’s work is originated in the fact that when he considered the crises as challenges, he mostly focused on the possible solutions instead of the failures while realized the importance of taking up responsibility and adaptation in solving the problem.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Virág Rab is an assistant professor at the University of Pécs, Hungary. She holds a PhD in History. The title of her doctoral dissertation was: "Diagnoses and Therapies: Financial Experts’ Ideas to Solve the Post-war International Financial Problems, 1919-1920".(2007). She has been involved in both teaching activities and research at the Department of contemporary History. Her courses include lectures on political and economic history of 20th century Hungary and Central-Europe. Her current research focuses on Hungarian economy from a global perspective.

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