A Hungarian American Collector and his Contribution to Hungarian Museums

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Hungarian Americans contribution to American culture is remarkable in its abundance of scientific, philanthropic and artistic achievements. Some of them, like award winning scientist and collector, Laszlo Gyugyi created a remarkable 19th century Zsolnay collection, of which a great part was repatriated to Hungary. Dr. Gyugyi’s decision to sell back and gift half of his collection to the Zsolnay Museum in Pecs became a widely admired attraction of Pecs’ cultural district. This presentation unpacks how Mr. Gyugyi set out to build a collection of Zsolnay ceramic artworks, how he learned about available new pieces, acquired, and added them to his collection. The major theme of this investigation is how he became interested and decided to place part of his collection back into the factory where they were originally designed and made. Some of the most aesthetically-accomplished works will be presented during the lecture.




Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Susanna holds an MA from Roman Archaeology and History, an MLS from Rutgers, and currently a PhD Candidate at the School of Communication & Information at Rutgers. She has been working since 1978 as a subject bibliographer and reference librarian. Her publications are in the fields of Roman archaeology, museum studies and chat reference services. In 1998 she co-curated the Jozsef Domjan Retrospective Exhibition at the American Hungarian Foundation.