Zoltán Mariska (CSc, PhD),

Faculty of Arts, University of Miskolc

The City and the University – Intellectual Roots in Kolozsvár

1921 is an important year in the history of Szeged. Almost one hundred years have passed since the Hungarian government transferred Ferencz József University to Szeged, and since that year it has been regarded as a university town.

This lecture will describe the circumstances from the time immediately prior to the occupation of the university, then in Kolozsvár, by the Romanians on 12 May 1919, up to its relocation to Szeged, and the first ten years of its existence there.

Numerous phases of the city's development were connected with the allocation of buildings for the university. Among these, for example, is the Dom Square, which is also home to the Open-Air Festival. The various buildings of the university are integral elements of the Szeged cityscape. In many respects, the placement of the university caused problems in the city, and it took ten years to solve these issues.

In that period, professors who had arrived from Kolozsvár became dominant players in Szeged's public life. The cultural life of the city also became closely tied to the new university's presence.

This lecture will deal with the details of that connection and with the background of the cultural history of the university.