A celebratory memorial was held for Dr Géza Füssi-Nagy on September 25 in Sárospatak. Dr Füssi-Nagy was the founder of the African Hungarian Union.
The opening ceremony of the exhibition bearing the title Relics of Africa in Sárospatak took place on the 25th of September at the Rákóczi Museum in Sárospatak. A current member of the African Hungarian Union, Sándor Balogh, told visitors, who were already greeted by the museum’s director, Edit Tamás, that without Géza Füssi-Nagy, scientific and civil interest towards Africa might not be the same in Hungary as it is today, thanks to him.
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About Dr Géza Füssi-Nagy
Dr Füssi-Nagy was a professor at the Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences at the Applied Linguistics Department for almost four decades and was also the head of the university’s research programme since 1992.
Apart from his contribution to the scientific scene in Hungary, he placed great emphasis on expanding the knowledge of Hungarians about Africa. Therefore he organised several scientific and informative talks, participated in professional presentations, exhibitions, conferences and other events centred on Africa.
In 1992, Géza Füssi-Nagy laid down the foundations of the African Hungarian Union, with the aims of collecting and spreading information about traditions as well as current and modern issues.
In 1999 he became a member of the Friends of Tanzania Foundation. His biggest contribution at this organisation was the renovation of the Roman Catholic church at Buru, along with the building of an all-girls middle school belonging to the local episcope.
Dr Géza Füssi-Nagy’s heritage: the African Hungarian Union
In 2007, Füssi-Nagy’s research programme focusing on Africa was suspended, but not much later the accreditation of this Master’s programme has started at ELTE and finally in 2016, eight years after his death, Füssi-Nagy’s dream came true: the Hungarian Africa Subcommittee came into being in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Since it was established, the African Hungarian Union launched 19 medical missions to Africa, and the 20th is already in preparation.
Apart from these missions, several humanitarian programmes were carried out on the African continent.
The head of AHU said the following in remembrance of the professor: ‘They say that man without knowledge is like a zebra without stripes. Dr Füssi-Nagy left a tremendous amount of knowledge for us so that we will never become stripeless zebras’.