New Digital Collections and Donations
Former US ambassador to Hungary Donald M. Blinken passed away two years ago, on September 22, 2022. He and his wife, Vera Blinken, not only offered, in 2015, a major support to the Archivum—which has been proudly carrying their names ever since—but also entrusted us with preserving and making accessible their personal papers. As the Archivum would not be the same without the Blinkens, we dedicate the latest donations and other developments in the collection to Mr. Blinken’s memory.
HU OSA 367-0-5 Vera and Donald Blinken Papers: In Memoriam Donald Blinken
The fonds contains Donald Blinken's ambassadorial files, such as correspondence and confidential communications, as well as various documents on the NATO enlargement, and Vera Blinken's personal papers. Now a new archival series, In Memoriam Donald Blinken, has been added to the collection, comprising a video recording of Donald Blinken’s memorial service and the photographs that were on display during the ceremony.
Similarly to the entire fonds, the documents are accessible online, without registration.
HU OSA 300-85-14 Records of RFE/RL Research Institute: Materialy Samizdata
The Archivum started a large-scale digitization project focusing on textual records in 2021. As the project’s latest result, our entire collection of the RFE/RL bulletin Materialy Samizdata has become available in the online Catalog. From the late 1960s until the early 1990s, the Samizdat Archives unit of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty collected and cataloged samizdat documents from the USSR. Considered valuable first-hand sources, selections of samizdat publications were circulated within the Radios in the form of a bulletin titled Materialy Samizdata (Samizdat Materials), accompanied by short commentaries.
Browse the digitized issues online, without registration!
HU OSA 434 György Durst Collection of Video Interviews
György Durst is an award-winning television producer, president of the Mediawave Foundation’s Board of Trustees and of the Association of Magyar Filmklubok és Filmbarátok Szövetsége (Hungarian film clubs and film aficionados). The video collection he donated to the Archivum include interviews on the 1988 Szárszó meeting, a significant chapter in the history of the Hungarian transition period, on the opposition figure and celebrated poet György Petri, on the Orfeo Art Group, and on the first ten years of Magyar Narancs, a political-cultural weekly launched in 1989, originally affiliated with the Fidesz party, then a liberal group.
The Magyar Narancs interviews are already accessible in the Research Room and online with registration; the full collection will be available soon.
HU OSA 466 Péter Hanák Personal Papers
Péter Hanák (1921–1997) was an influential figure in historical studies in Hungary from the late 1940s until his death, a renowned scholar of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise and the Dual Monarchy period, and researcher of the societies (and idea) of Central Europe, who played a crucial role in channeling Hungarian history writing into the international discourse. His personal papers shed light on his academic and public roles through original typewritten manuscripts, proofs, and handwritten notes, as well as CVs, publication lists, and a collection of interviews.
The first two series of the Hanák papers are now accessible in the Research Room!
HU OSA 490 Records of the Roma Civil Rights Foundation
The Roma Civil Rights Foundation was established, in 1995, by Aladár Horváth, president of the Hungarian Roma Parliament, with Soros Foundation–Hungary Roma board member János Bogdán or hugely inspiring Roma activist Jenő Setét; its Board of Trustees included, among others, the acclaimed film director Miklós Jancsó or the sociologist and opposition figure Zsolt Csalog. Launched to reinforce the emancipation of Roma people in Hungary, the Foundation focused, initially, on social challenges like catastrophic housing conditions and discrimination, providing legal defense services; in the 2000s, its activity moved toward EU policy making and training equal opportunities professionals.
Once processed, the records of the Foundation will be accessible in the Research Room.
HU OSA 495 Records of Median Public Opinion and Market Research Institute
Median, one of the leading Hungarian public opinion research companies, donated a collection of records related to surveys conducted between 1989 and 1990. Covering an instrumental chapter in the Hungarian transition period, the studies reflect the Hungarian public’s opinions based on representative samples; the resulting data corpus, an imprint of these defining years, will provide an authentic source for researchers.
The documents will be accessible following sanitization and processing.
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