In a press release the SwedishAcademy made the followingannouncement: “The Nobel Prize inLiterature for 2002 is awarded to theHungarian writer Imre Kertész forwriting that upholds the fragileexperience of the individual againstthe barbaric arbitrariness of history. Inhis writing Imre Kertész explores thepossibility of continuing to live andthink as an individual in an era inwhich the subjection of human beingsto social forces has becomeincreasingly complete. His worksreturn unremittingly to the decisiveevent in his life: the period spent inAuschwitz, to which he was taken as ateenage boy during the Nazipersecution of Hungary's Jews. Forhim Auschwitz is not an exceptionaloccurrence that like an alien bodysubsists outside the normal history ofWestern Europe. It is the ultimate truthabout human degradation in modernexistence. Kertész's first novel,Sorstalanság, 1975 (Fateless, 1992),deals with the young Köves, who isarrested and taken to a concentrationcamp but conforms and survives.”

MINISTRY of foreign affairs

Nobel Laureates from Hungary for a Better World

In its first edition of 2001, Nature, one of the world’s leading scientificjournals, published a summary of anniversaries spanning themillennium, and in this it declared the centenary of the first presentationof the Nobel Prize to be the ‘Anniversary of the Year’. This indicates theheights to which this most distinguished award recognising outstandingintellectual achievements has risen in just one century. In his Neumann-biography published in 1992, Norman Macrea, former editor-in-chief ofThe Economist and researcher of the Japanese economic miracle, wroteabout Budapest at the time the first Nobel Prizes were awarded: “Early inthis century, Budapest was the fastest developing metropolis in Europe.This city produced a legion of scientists, artists and would-be millionairesin numbers only comparable with the renaissance city-states of Italy.”Hungary, although a small country with respect to its population, is,however, a major one with respect to the recognition it has earned in thescientific community and the performance of its scientists; over thecourse of the 20th century no less than twelve Nobel Laureates – sevenof them sons of Budapest – were able to trace their roots back toHungary. Only one link was missing: the first Hungarian Nobel Laureatefor Literature. However, the circle was completed when it wasannounced that Imre Kertész had been awarded this very prize. In thefollowing, Nobel Laureates of Hungarian origin and their messagespointing to the future are presented.

Imre Kertész and his wife being greeted by Hungary's Prime Minister Péter Medgyessy

Imre Kertész

The First Hungarian Nobel Laureate for Literature

Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Prize

Alfred Nobel, who gave his name tothe highest scientific-cultural honour,was born in Stockholm on 21stOctober 1833. A chemist ofconsiderable renown, Nobel used thefortune he gained from thedevelopment of explosives and theindustrial application of science tolaunch a foundation with a noblepurpose. His last will and testament of27th November 1895 raised amonument to his own memory, whilealso rendering a service to mankind.

His intention was to reward themost prominent figures in the mostdiverse of fields, irrespective ofnationality and taking onlyperformance into consideration,including basic research in naturalsciences and the creation of a peacefulsociety. Nobel died in San Remo on10th December 1896. Thus, his last willentered into force and the first stepstowards the establishment of the NobelFoundation were made. The SwedishRoyal Council in its decree of 29th June1900 confirmed the statutes of thisFoundation. The first Nobel Prizeswere awarded in the first year of the20th century, on 10th December 1901,the anniversary of Nobel's death. Assuch, the Nobel centenary is a processcovering four main stations. Thesestages are immortalised by thecentenary series of stamps of four facevalues, of which the first depicts the

Nobel testament of 1895 and the lastshows the first prize awardingceremony in 1901.

Nobel founded five prizes, to beawarded in physics, chemistry,physiology or medicine, literature andpeace. These categories werecomplemented by a prize awarded forwork in economic sciences, foundedin memory of Alfred Nobel by theBank of Sweden on the occasion of the300th anniversary of its existence in1968. The ‘Prize of Prizes’ isaccompanied by a diploma bearing acitation, a gold medal and a sum ofabout 1 million US dollars. Today, themoral prestige of the prize hasincreased to such an extent that thisrepresents its main value. On receivingthe prize, the recipients make a shortspeech of acknowledgement and, aspart of the ceremony, they give aNobel lecture on how they achievedtheir result.

The Nobel Prize does not serve tohonour an outstanding scientific careerand the lifework of a scientist. As aresearcher and inventor, Nobel himselfwas well aware of the essence ofdiscovery and invention. Accordingly,he directed in his will that the prize beawarded for specific performances andresults. The reasoning behind theawarding of the Nobel Prize alwaysincludes a sentence that accuratelydefines the specific performance that isbeing recognised.

In accordance with the rules, aNobel Prize can be shared by up tothree persons. Consequently, only veryfew from among the large number ofscientists can ever hope to behonoured with a Nobel Prize.Considering that the list of Nobel

Laureates is, for the most part, a list ofscientific world-celebrities of thecentury that has passed since the firstprizes were awarded, it is indeed agreat honour to qualify for this list.

Essentially, science is international,and scientists can contribute to severalprofessional fields and to the wealth ofseveral countries through their work,which, at the same time, also enrichesthese countries in both scientific andhuman terms. As an example, we onlyhave to look at the personal careersand scientific lifework of thoseHungarian and Hungarian-originNobel Laureates who have qualifiedfor the "Pantheon of Immortals".

Nobel Laureates ofHungarian Origin

Albert von Szent-Györgyi Nagyrapoltwas the first scientist who travelledfrom Hungary to Stockholm to receivethe highest-ranking scientific prize.The Nobel medal received with theaward is today held at the HungarianNational Museum in Budapest.

This Nobel gold medal was firstshown to the Hungarian public in 1993,on the occasion of the hundredthanniversary of the birth of Albert vonSzent-Györgyi Nagyrapolt, when anexhibition of the Nobel Prize winnersopened in the Hungarian NationalMuseum. János Szentágothai, the world-famous brain specialist and an eminentfigure of the Jewish-Christian dialogue, inhis opening speech at the exhibitionspoke with great and justifiable prideabout those world-famous members ofthe galaxy of scientists who always spoke

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Stamp issued on the centenary of the Nobel testament depicting Nobel Prize winners of Hungarian origin

proudly of their Hungarian origins. “Ourpapers mentioned the fact that not onlyNobel Prize winners of the atomic galaxy,but two of the most ingenious ones whowere never awarded the prize, John vonNeumann and Leo Szilárd, as well asmany others came from Jewish families.This is a fact as undeniable as it isimportant and for me it is a source ofpride. Highly educated and well-to-do

Jewish families could be found in othercountries too, but they did not producean atomic galaxy. Our scientists had thetraditions of the Bolyais and the excellentFasor Lutheran and Trefort Streetgrammar schools as a background, andlast but not least the seminaries of RudolfOrtvay in the Budapest University. Onemember of the great generation ofmathematicians and physicists,Neumann, was the son of a Jewishbanker, and another, Zoltán Bay, camefrom the family of a Calvinist pastor, andyet they were life-long friends.”

Within this galaxy of Hungariangeniuses, 12 individuals of Hungarianorigin were awarded this high-rankingdistinction in the first century of theNobel Prize. In 1995 the HungarianPost issued a stamp on the centenaryof the Nobel testament, and in 2001,the centenary of the presentation of thefirst Nobel Prize, a permanentexhibition in their honour opened inthe Hungarian National Museum. TheNobel Prize was awarded to: Philipp E.A. von Lenard in physics in 1905,Robert Bárány in medicine in 1914,Richard A. Zsigmondy in chemistry in1925, Albert von Szent-GyörgyiNagyrapolt in medicine in 1937,George de Hevesy in chemistry in

1943, Georg von Békésy in medicinein 1961, Eugene P. Wigner in physicsin 1963, Dennis Gabor in physics in1971, John C. Polanyi in chemistry in1986, Elie Wiesel for peace in 1986,George A. Olah in chemistry in 1994and John C. Harsanyi in economics in1994.

As is apparent, scientists working inthe natural sciences are dominant:

three prizes in physics and physiology-medicine each and four prizes inchemistry, one prize for peace and oneprize for economics. Hungarianscientists are characterised by theirinterdisciplinarity. For example, Albertvon Szent-Györgyi Nagyrapolt startedin medicine and, throughbiochemistry, arrived at physics. Georgvon Békésy did this the other wayround: he was educated in physics andlectured as a professor of physics,worked as a telecommunicationsresearch engineer and, finally, he wasgranted the Nobel Prize forPhysiology-Medicine. Let us nowconsider in detail what achievementsin fields from physics to economicshave been rewarded with NobelPrizes.

Nobel Prize Laureates inPhysics

Philipp Eduard Anton von Lenard(1862 - 1947) was awarded the NobelPrize for Physics in 1905 for "his workon cathode rays."

He started his research activityunder the leadership of Heinrich Hertz

(1857 - 1894), examining the radiationgenerated in the Crookes tube. Hepassed cathode rays through a thin leafof metal (Lenard window) out of thetube to the atmosphere or into anotherclosed tube, thus allowing them to bestudied. He found that the permeationcapability of the rays depends on theirvelocity. During their permeationthrough materials, the rays are

exposed to forces. He came to theconclusion that the atoms arecomposed of positive and negativeparticles that fill only a very small partof the space (dynamide theory), andthat the cathode ray somehow carries anegative charge.

In studying the photoelectric effect,he found that the speed of electronsleaving a metal surface depends onlyon the frequency, while the number ofelectrons depends on the intensity oflight. This former discovery of hisfounded the basis for the atom theoryof Ernest Rutherford (1871 - 1937),while the latter served as a basis for thediscovery of the law of thephotoelectric effect developed byAlbert Einstein (1879 - 1955). His mostimportant results were the discovery oflimit wavelength in the photoelectriceffect and the role of activators inphosphorescence.

Eugene P. Wigner (1902 - 1995) wasawarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in1963, shared with Maria Goeppert-Mayer(1906 - 1972) and Hans Daniel Jensen(1907 - 1973), “for his contributions to thetheory of the atomic nucleus and theelementary particles, particularly throughthe discovery and application offundamental symmetry principles.”

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Obverse and reverse of Albert von Szent-Györgyi’s Nobel medal Reverse of John Harsanyi’s Nobel medal

Eugene P. Wigner pursued hisgrammar school studies in the famousFasor Lutheran grammar school inBudapest, and gained admission to theUniversity of Berlin to become achemical engineer according to thewishes of his father. In the twenties,Berlin was the centre of modernphysics. Wigner also attended theclasses and seminars of Albert Einstein(1879 - 1955), Max Planck (1858 - 1947)and Max von Laue (1879 - 1960). InBerlin, he prepared his doctoral thesis –a pioneering work in quantum-chemistry – under the guidance ofMichael Polanyi (1891 - 1976).

Having completed his universitystudies in Berlin, he returned home toutilise his qualification in his father'stanning factory. When he learned thatWerner Heisenberg (1901 - 1976) andMax Born (1882 - 1970) had developedthe science of quantum mechanics, hereturned to Berlin. With the help of hisold teacher, Michael Polanyi, he joinedthe Kaiser Wilhelm Institute where heexamined the problem: why do atoms‘prefer’ to sit in the symmetry planesand at symmetry points of crystals?Starting from this, he was the first torealise that space-time symmetries playa central role in quantum mechanics.In his book entitled Group Theory andIts Application to the QuantumMechanics of Atomic Spectra (1931) heshowed that all the significant preciseresults of quantum mechanics could beachieved through symmetry groups.This is also emphasised in thereasoning of the Nobel Prize awardedin 1963.

In the thirties, Wigner travelled tothe United States where he worked atPrinceton University for the next sixdecades. During the Second WorldWar he played an outstanding part inlaunching the atomic age and, after thewar, in the peaceful and safe utilisationof nuclear energy. It can be said that hewas the first reactor engineer in theworld. When he died, the New YorkTimes, in a five-column article,commemorated “the man whointroduced mankind to the atomic ageand had the courage to retailor thescience of sub-atomic particles.

“He was one of those scientistsendowed with remarkable imaginationand foresight who were born and whostudied in Budapest and came to theWest to alter the modern world.”

Dennis Gabor (1900 - 1979) wasawarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in1971 “for his invention and improvementof the holographic method.”

As a 10-year-old student, heapplied for his first patent for a newtype of merry-go-round. By perfectingmillions of street lamps, he improvedpublic lighting. He constructed aWilson fog chamber to measure thespeed of particles, he designed aholographic microscope, built ananalogue calculator, and carried outpioneering work in the developmentof flat, colour TV picture tubes. Hisentire career is paved with a wholestring of inventions. Among them, it isholography that brought him theNobel Prize and world reputation.

He had been interested in theproblem of the electron microscope

right from his youth. In 1947, he linkedtwo apparently far-removed fields;namely, the study of electron raysaimed at improving the electronmicroscope, and the study ofinformation theory. He recognised thatfor perfect mapping, all theinformation present in the wavesreflected from the object should beused – not just the intensity of waves,as the traditional devices did, but alsothe phase and amplitude of the wave.With this, a complete (holo) andstereoscopic (graph) picture can beobtained from the object. DennisGabor developed this and publishedhis invention in 1948.

However, the widespreadpropagation of holography required thedevelopment of a coherent light source.This occurred in 1962 with theinvention of the laser. Then, bycombining laser technology andholography, laser holograms could beproduced. Dennis Gabor alsoparticipated in this activity and, bymeans of his research work, hecontributed to the opening of newperspectives in the field of text storage,letter and pattern recognition, as well asin associated information storage. At theexhibition arranged on the occasion ofthe awarding of the Nobel Prize, DennisGabor was able to present a three-dimensional self-portrait using lasertechnology. From the beginning, hisinterests also covered the theory ofhearing and the problems of acousticholography, which finally led him to thefield of medicine.

In parallel with this, the interests

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Philipp E. A. von Lenard Eugene P. Wigner Dennis Gabor

and activities of this scientist withqualifications in physics andengineering became increasinglyfocused on the problems of industrialcivilisation and the future of mankindas a whole. This is indicated by anumber of works such as Invention ofthe future (1963), Scientific,technological and social innovations(1970), The mature society (1972) andFollowing the age of wasting (1976)written as a report to the Roman Club.

Shortly after receiving the NobelPrize, he presented himself in atelevision interview in 1972 as a mancombining the real and human culturein his lifework: “I have lived a dual lifefor years. For 15 years I have been aphysicist and an inventor. This is onelife of mine, while the other one is: I ama social writer. I have realised for a longtime that our culture is in great danger.”

The consumption of irreplaceablenatural raw material resources andenvironmental pollution underminethe very conditions for our survival. Ifthis continues, “in about a hundredyears, we will consume and exhaustthe wealth of nature and the Earth willbecome very poor.” Therefore, anenormous responsibility falls onscience of every kind. “A new scienceand a new technology need to becreated that draw from nature only asmuch as can be restored, returned orthat can be replaced.”

“Invent the future” – heencouraged us. In fact, the futureneeds to be invented in respect of bothengineering and society. Whileanalysing the inventions that can be

expected in the future, he came to theconclusion that the inventions that areprobable are not those that areneeded. “There will be even largercomputers, even faster communicationetc. But, where is social stability?”

Dennis Gabor, a man whorecognised the problems of the nearfuture and advised of the danger intime, was, however, not a pessimist.His world concept and vision camefrom a deep understanding of reality.He made us aware of these globalproblems in order to motivate us tosolve them. “I believe that theproblems can be solved; although Iadmit that my hope derives from myoptimism rather than on wellsupported data. It is, however,optimism that I always considered tobe the sole work hypothesis ofresponsible people.”

Nobel Prize Laureates inChemistry

Richard Adolf Zsigmondy (1865 -1929) was awarded the Nobel Prize forChemistry in 1925 “for hisdemonstration of the heterogeneousnature of colloid solutions and for themethods he used, which have sincebecome fundamental in moderncolloid chemistry.”

Richard A. Zsigmondy obtainedhis doctorate from the ErlangenUniversity in 1889 in the subject oforganic chemistry. He worked asassistant to August Kundt (1839 -

1894), the physicist, in 1891-1892, andhe was private docent at theTechnische Hochschule of Grazbetween 1893 and 1899. Then hecontinued his teaching career in Jena.At that time, he was primarilyengaged in researching thepeculiarities of silicon compounds. Asa consequence of his results obtainedwith glass, he was asked to join thestaff of the Schott glass factory of Jena;in parallel with this, he also continuedhis teaching activity.

At that time, he had alreadyachieved fundamental results incolloidics and was a key figure in thissubject. In 1903, in co-operation withHenry Siedentopf (1872 - 1940), hedeveloped the ultramicroscope as oneof the most important testing devicesof colloid solutions. Using thisinstrument, he came to fundamentallyimportant conclusions on the nature ofcolloids, the distribution of particlesand the stability of sols. In 1907 he wastaken on as a professor at the famousGöttingen University. In 1918, hedeveloped the diaphragm filter usedfor research in the fields of colloidchemistry and biochemistry, and thenin 1929, an improved version calledthe ultra-filter. Using these devices,particles of various sizes (includingbacteria and viruses) can be separatedfrom each other and from the solvent,respectively.

George de Hevesy (1885 - 1966)was awarded the Nobel Prize forChemistry in 1943, “for his work on theuse of isotopes as tracers in the studyof chemical processes.”

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Richard A. Zsigmondy John C. PolanyiGeorge de Hevesy

He is known as a pioneer inradioactive tracer techniques: not onlyfor discovering the method – evenbefore the term ‘isotope’ was thoughtof – but also for revealing its mostimportant fields of application. Byusing radioactive tracing, not only canhidden caves, water flows and theinner structure of materials be detectedbut, more importantly, the livingorganism – the parts and processes ofwhich are inaccessible by any othermethod – can be studied.

From 1920 onward, he continuedhis career in Copenhagen at theinstitute of Niels Bohr (1885 - 1962). Itwas in this institute that he discoveredelement No. 72, hafnium. In the sameyear, he launched the first experimentsin the biological application of tracing,starting with plants, by using lead andthorium isotopes. In 1926, he wasinvited by the Freiburg University towork at the Department of Physics andChemistry. During the eight yearsspent there, he began the applicationof tracing in animal tissues. He showedthat the concentration of bismuth intumorous cells is significantly higherthan in healthy cells.

When the Nazis came to power inGermany, he left and moved back toCopenhagen. It was here in 1934 thathe discovered activation analysis, the‘in vivo’ method of tracing. From thistime onward, he was almostexclusively engaged in medical,biological and biochemical subjects, so

much so that many of his colleaguestruly believed themselves to beworking with a great medical doctor.

His work continued with thebeginning of the artificial production ofisotopes. Following the discovery ofdeuterium, he was able to demonstratethe exchange process betweengoldfish and water. Following thediscovery of artificial radioactivity, hestarted using the isotope P32 for theexamination of the skeletal system anddemonstrated its continuous renewal.He quickly extended this form of studyto other organs as well. He measuredthe rate and extent of renewal, the pathand creation of various molecules inthe organism and, in the meantime,increased the number of isotopes used.

From 1940, he carried out furtherexperiments in Stockholm where hefound the conditions for his biologicalexaminations to be better than those inthe institute for theoretical physics inCopenhagen. At that time, he wasinterested primarily in DNA formation,and this led him to the examination ofcertain malignant tumours. During thewar, he moved from Denmark toSweden. By that time, the importanceof tracing had been completelydeveloped. In recognition of his work,the scientific world awarded Hevesythe Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1943.

Following this high honour, hecontinued his scientific activity in anincreasingly wide sphere. By means oftracing, he conquered further fields formedical science. He examined thevarious processes of the metabolism(e.g. iron metabolism), continued toresearch tumours and, when he wasolder, he also started studyinghaematology.

Hevesy is famed as the founder of atotally new discipline, nuclearmedicine, and he devoted his entirelife to chemical, physio-chemical,biological and medical knowledge andto curative applications.

John C. Polanyi (1929 - ) wasawarded the Nobel Prize forChemistry in 1986, shared with theAmerican Dudley R. Herschbach(born in 1932) and the American ofChinese origin Yuan Tseh Lee (bornin 1936) “for their contributionsconcerning the dynamics ofchemical elementary processes.”

The activity of the above threescientists furnished the basis of reactiondynamics – a new field of chemistry thatprovides assistance in the moreprofound and detailed understanding ofchemical reactions. In order to trace theelementary steps in chemical reactions,Polanyi introduced the method ofinfrared chemiluminescence. Thisenabled infrared radiation of very lowintensity to be detected and analysed.Thus, indispensable information can beobtained on the state of amultidimensional surface that describesthe potential energy of the system.Polanyi succeeded in harmonising thedata calculated from the potentialenergy surface of reactions with thevalues of parameters measuredexperimentally.

His research introduced lasermethods that serve to study thedynamics of chemical reactions. Hisname is also linked with thedevelopment of surface photochemistry– a new discipline studying the detailedmechanism of reactions that take placeon surfaces.

In addition to his scientific papers,he published about one hundredarticles on subjects ranging overscience policy, weapons reduction andpapers dealing with the effects of thesciences on society. He is co-editor ofthe book The dangers of nuclear war.His scientific activity has brought him anumber of distinguished awards,among them the Wolf Prize in 1982.

George A. Olah (1927 - ) wasawarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistryin 1994, “for his contribution tocarbocation chemistry.”

In the field of modern organicchemistry, his activity disproved thedogma of the quatrovalency of carbonand opened up new ways ofproducing hydrocarbons. Theproduction of lead-free petrol is ofoutstanding importance.

George A. Olah completedsecondary school studies at thePiarist Grammar School, Budapest,in fact the very same school Georgede Hevesy – also winner of a NobelPrize for chemistry – had attendedyears before. He graduated from theFaculty of Chemical Engineering ofthe Budapest Technical University.His examinations, carried out

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George Olah

alongside Professor Géza Zemplén(1883 - 1956) who was continuingthe research of Nobel Laureate EmilFischer, opened up a new chapter inthe chemistry of compounds thatcontain carbon atoms with a positivecharge.

He applied the theoreticalknowledge gained during theexamination of carbocations inindustrial syntheses as well: heproduced high-octane hydrocarbonswith branching chains fromhydrocarbons with straight chains(poor quality and low-octanepetroleum fractions). On his proposal,the ions containing positive carbonatoms are called collectivelycarbocations.

In recognition of his successful 12-year research activity, D.P. Locker andhis wife as well as other sponsorsfounded a hydrocarbons chemicalresearch institute for George A. Olahand his colleagues at the SouthCalifornia University in Los Angeles in1976. Since then, the LockerHydrocarbon Research Institute hasbeen developing and growing underthe leadership of professor Olah andwith the combined input of manyoutstanding scientists from all roundthe world.

His latest research project looks atthe methyl-alcohol fuel cell, whichoperates by transforming carbondioxide present in the air in hazardousquantities into methyl alcohol. It islikely that within a few years this cell

will be mass-produced as an energysource for electronic equipment, andthat over the longer term it maybecome a viable means of poweringvehicles, replacing oil or gas.

Olah is a chemist who hasconnected basic research withindustrial applications; who is at homein the complete innovation chainbetween universities and industrialcompanies; whose research activityhas become an economic resourcewhile preserving the environment andnature. Nevertheless – together withthe other Nobel Prize Laureates – hewarns that our most important naturalvalues are intellectual values, the mostimportant value is human value, thecivilised individual and a goodeducation system.

“I hope very much to beunderstood at home” – said NobelPrize Laureate professor Olahspeaking in America – “that in theapproaching 21st century, which isnot far now, the most importantthing for every nation will be theknowledge of its youth. Therefore,training, teaching and education areof fundamental importance. In boththe 19th and 20th centurieseconomic resources were thegreatest influences on which nationswere able to progress. I believe thiswill be replaced to a large extent inthe 21st century by what a countrycan offer in the education andprofessional qualification of itsyoung people.

“Investment needs to be made inthe future, and the best investment acountry can make is in the educationof its young people.”

Nobel Laureates inPhysiology or Medicine

Robert Bárány (1876 - 1936) wasawarded the Nobel Prize forPhysiology or Medicine in 1914 for“his work in the field of thephysiology and pathology of thevestibular apparatus (balancingorgan).”

Robert Bárány completed hismedical studies at the University ofVienna. He went on to study atGerman universities in the field ofinternal medicine and neurology-psychiatry. Later, he joined theotology clinic in Vienna. His workthat won him the Nobel Prize wasfounded on clinical and experimentalexaminations he carried out here.

A simple clinical observationattracted his attention to the balancingorgan located in the cochlea. He oftenperformed ear rinses on his patients,during which the patients frequentlybecame dizzy. It appeared that theirdizziness was in direct relation to thetemperature of the rinsing liquid. Thepatient did not become dizzy iflukewarm water was used, while theuse of cold or overly warm water causeddizziness. This is explained by the factthat the temperature of lymphacirculating within the ducts of thecochlea is about 37oC. Variations intemperature cause this liquid to circulateand, depending on whether cold orwarm water is used, the liquid passes todifferent ducts and results in dizziness.So, the information gained on theposition of the human body is disturbed,and this is reflected by the rapidinvoluntary oscillation of the eyeballs(nystagmus). The phenomenoncorresponds to a biological reflexmechanism and is called Bárány'scaloric reaction. Its failure is of apathological character as it indicates thatthe pathological (mostly inflammatory)processes have reached the cochlea.This biological process is also connectedto the phenomenon of seasickness.

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Queen Silvia of Sweden with George Olah at the banquet given to honour Nobel Prize winners

In fact, the whole of Bárány’s workcovered the boundary areas of otologyand neurology. His descendantsinclude a number of physicians. Oneof his grandchildren, Anders Bárány,became a physicist and, as a secretaryof the Nobel Prize Committee forPhysics, he was able to participate inawarding a number of honours.

Albert von Szent-GyörgyiNagyrapolt (1893 - 1986) wasawarded the Nobel Prize forPhysiology or Medicine in 1937 for “hisdiscoveries in connection with thebiological combustion processes, withspecial reference to vitamin C and thecatalysis of fumaric acid.”

Szent-Györgyi’s discovery ofvitamin C had a part to play in winningthe prize; in fact, vitamin C in thequantity necessary for his research wasobtained from Hungarian paprika.However, this represented only asideline of his scientific activity.Throughout his long career, Szent-Györgyi focussed his research on lifeand the essence of life.

Energy is required for thefunctioning of a living organism. Thisenergy is derived from the combustionof nutrients. At that time there weretwo schools of thought to explain themethod of combustion. In the Warburgschool, oxygen is activated while,according to the Wieland school, it isthe hydrogen in the nutrient that isactivated. Szent-Györgyi combinedthese two schools of thought andshowed that the active oxygen oxidises

the active hydrogen. This processconsists of a long string of complicatedreactions in which the energy ofhydrogen atoms is progressivelyreleased during the sequence of step-by-step conversions.

Szent-Györgyi devoted more thanten years to the examination of oxido-reduction processes. The discovery of asignificant part of the oxidation chain-links was the basis on which he wasawarded the Nobel Prize. The remainingelements of the citrate cycle and itscomplete mechanism were explainedby one of his friends, Hans Krebs (1900- 1981), who also obtained a NobelPrize; the correct designation of thecycle is the Szent-Györgyi-Krebs cycle.

Following the presentation of theNobel Prize in 1937, Szent-Györgyi didnot rest on his laurels: in 1939, newresearch and discoveries were started.There is no doubt that the blossomingof muscular research in both Hungaryand at the international level is linkedwith the results achieved by Szent-Györgyi and his school in Szeged. “Theyears 1940 to 1942 were a great successnot only for Szent-Györgyi but also forus in what we were able to achievewith respect to the contraction ofmuscles. In my opinion, in the life ofSzent-Györgyi, this success surpassedthat rewarded by the Nobel Prize,” saidBruno Straub (1914 - 1996), a seniorresearch worker in the former team of

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Georg von BékésyAlbert von Szent-Györgyi NagyrapoltRobert Bárány

Georg von Békésy’s Nobel diploma

Szent-Györgyi and an internationallyreputed scientist, who continuedresearch in this field, while evaluatingthe results obtained half a century ago.The discovery achieved at that time isconsidered to mark the beginning ofmodern muscular biology.

After that, Szent-Györgyi rushed offto his laboratory every morning for afurther 40 years, even after hisemigration to the United States in 1947.The third field of his research becamethe illness that carried away his wife,his daughter and John von Neumann,his friend. He was still engaged inresearching the secret of cancer at theage of 90. For Hungarians, he becamethe symbol – even during his lifetime –of a free spirited, humanist scientist.

Georg von Békésy (1899 - 1972)was awarded the Nobel Prize forPhysiology or Medicine in 1961 for “thediscovery of the physical mechanism ofstimulation within the cochlea.”

The most significant element ofBékésy’s lifework is the observationand description of the mechanical-physical processes that take place inthe cochlea and the development of anew theory relating to the nature ofhearing. Békésy was the first todevelop a model that effectivelyfunctioned in a manner similar to thecochlea, and which allowed theprocesses to be observed andphotographed more accurately ascompared to ear dissections. Hissuccess was the result of careful andprofound examinations and a largenumber of measurements relating tothe components of the cochlea.

Békésy received the Nobel Prizeafter he had been working for morethan a decade in the USA, while theNobel Prize was actually awarded forwork he carried out in Hungary. Thiswas confirmed by János Szentágothai(1912 - 1994), the world-famous brainspecialist, who said “In the yearsbetween 1931 and 1944, I, being inclose relationship to him – as a medicalstudent at the beginning and later as aresearcher engaged in a field close tohis research activity – knew that histheory of hearing that formed the basisof his Nobel Prize was completed asearly as 1944. Indeed, his theory onhow the mechanism of nervousinhibition contributes to the distinction

of ‘signal’ from ‘noise’ was perhapsmore brilliant. This theory in itselfwould be worthy of a Nobel Prizetoday.”

For Békésy, research on the earand hearing was one of the ways ofapproaching a comprehensive study ofthe human senses. In his Nobel lecture,he called attention to this subject.“Perhaps the day is not very far whenthe three organs of sense – ears, skinand eyes – which are clearly separatedfrom each other in the biologicalmanuals, will form a common chapterin certain respects.”

In his lifework, he linked researchactivity performed in the fields of

physics, communications technologyand physiology, and his scientific workwith the arts. He collected works of artof particular value and passed them onto the Nobel Foundation in his will.Right up until his death he worked oninterdisciplinary synthesis, leaving as hisheritage the continuation of this task.

In his speech delivered when hereceived the Nobel Prize, he said hiswork could be traced back to the‘founding father’ “...Robert Bárány, thefirst holder of a prize for otology, whois similarly of Hungarian origin. I do notbelieve this to be mere chance. Otologyin Hungary is practised at a very highlevel and followed with particularinterest. I long suspected that there hadbeen an outstanding person whofounded all this. I had already beensearching for a considerable time whenI discovered his name. He wasHogyes...” Endre Hogyes (1847 - 1906)had been engaged in the research ofthe reflex path of associated eye-movements and their relationship withthe labyrinth system since 1880. Theseextremely important experimentsconducted on animals preceded similartests performed on humans by RobertBárány. In his Nobel speech, Bárányalso made reference to Endre Hogyes.

The Nobel Peace PrizeLaureate

In addition to rewarding scientific andliterary performances, in his will AlfredNobel also envisaged a separate prize tohonour outstanding humanists andheroes of peace. This is of particularimportance; in fact, the 20th century isnot only the era of nuclear energy,mankind setting foot on the Moon,global satellite communication,computer-based information processing,gene surgery and further results ofscientific progress, but also that ofHiroshima and the Holocaust.

One living witness to this is ElieWiesel (1928 -), who was awarded theNobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was 15when his family was deported. Hismother and younger sister died in thegas chambers and his father died in theBuchenwald death camp. He survivedthe tragedy, became an accusatory

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Elie Wiesel

Cover of A Handful of Flowers – TheIntellectual Heritage of Hungarian-speakingJewishness with a foreword by Elie Wiesel

witness of it, and then kept thememory of it alive through literature.

He moved to Paris in 1945 andduring the sixteen years spent there, hewon recognition in modern Frenchliterature. In 1961, he visited the UnitedStates. He has been an Americancitizen since 1963. Although he is awriter, it is not his literary activity thatwas the basis of this high moralrecognition; instead, the Nobel PeacePrize was awarded – according to theofficial reasoning – with special regardto the fact that “he was the mostimportant leading personality andintellectual leader in the times whenviolence, oppression and racism lefttheir mark on the face of the world.”

In Tel Aviv, a series of books titled A Handful of Flowers – The IntellectualHeritage of Hungarian-speakingJewishness edited by Emil Feuerstein waspublished about persons regarded asthose who had contributed to the cultureof both Hungary and Israel. On the titlepage of the third volume published in1989, a portrait of Dennis Gabor is shownat the top and a portrait of Elie Wiesel,writer of the foreword to the Hungarian-language book, at the bottom.

The Nobel PrizeLaureate in EconomicSciences

John C. Harsanyi (1920 - 2000) wasawarded the Nobel Prize for EconomicSciences in 1994, shared with theAmerican John Nash (1928 -) and theGerman Reinhard Selten (1930 -) “fortheir pioneering analysis of equilibria inthe theory of non-co-operative games.”

The Nobel Prize Laureate of the gametheory was born in Budapest. As EugeneWigner and John von Neumann before him,Harsanyi also completed his grammarschool studies at the famous Fasor grammarschool in Budapest. Here he acquired thefoundations of his knowledge andhumanism, which he always rememberedwith great emotion. In the year of his finalexamination, in 1937, and following in thefootsteps of scientific world-luminaries likeTheodor T. Karman (1881 - 1963), LeoSzilard (1898 - 1964) and Ede Teller (1908 - ),he too won the high-ranking NationalGrammar School Mathematics Competition.

His father owned a pharmacy inZugló, a part of Budapest; so, bendingto the will of his parents, he studiedpharmacology at the BudapestUniversity of Sciences in order to takeover the family business. However, thewar intervened: in 1944, he was calledup for work service. Due to luck andassistance from the Jesuit Fathers, hesurvived the Second World War.

When he enrolled again in theUniversity of Sciences, he pursued hisstudies in another field. He obtained hisdoctor's degree in philosophy,sociology and psychology in thefollowing year. In the academic year of1947/1948, he joined the Institute ofSociology run by Professor SándorSzalay, as an assistant professor. It isthere that he became acquainted withAnna Klauber, a student in psychology,who became his life-long companion.“It is my family and my research activitythat remain at the centre of my life,”professor Harsanyi stated whilelooking back on his career.

The Stalinist political regime madeit impossible for him to continue hisresearch activity in Hungary.Therefore, in 1950, he and his wiferisked their lives to escape abroadthrough mine fields. In Austria, hestarted his life again as a factoryworker. In parallel with this, he studiedeconomics. He continued his studies inAmerica. From 1964 and for the nextquarter of a century, he worked as aprofessor at Berkeley University in

California. He retired in 1990.However, he continued his academicactivity even after his retirement. Hepublished four books and about onehundred academic papers.

This lifework was crowned by theNobel Prize, awarded for his workcarried out in the field of game theory.Harsanyi arrived in the United States inthe very year John von Neumann,founder of the theory of games, died.In his letter of 26th May 1957, JohnHarsanyi, aged 37 at the time, notifiedBudapest of the death of the scientistgenius and of the mathematicalrevolution Neumann had launched asfollows: “A number of mathematicaldisciplines were born in recent years tofulfil the mathematical needs of socialsciences. (The traditional mathematicaltheorems were ‘dimensioned’ to theneeds of natural sciences, thus, theycould not completely fulfil the needs ofsocial sciences.) One of them is the‘theory of games’ founded by John vonNeumann. (J.N. died a short time agodue to a brain tumour.) The objectivehere is to understand the economicand political equilibrium between thevarious groups of society.”

Professor Harsanyi, continuing thework of Neumann, demonstrated howto successfully analyse social games,even when the available information isincomplete. With this he founded afast-growing research sector, namelythe economics of information, whichdeals with strategic situations in whichthe participants only know each other’sintentions in part or not at all. He madegood use of this knowledge to theadvantage of his new home countryand the world when he advisedPresident Nixon during the American-Soviet disarmament negotiations.

The scientific activity of ProfessorHarsanyi was shared between theproblems of philosophy – especiallythe philosophy of history – the theoryof games, economic thinking and theimprovement of ethics. “The idea isthat, if society accepts the rules ofethics that, indeed, serve to benefitsociety, and these rules are observedby the people, society becomes notonly more ethical, but it will enjoymuch better economic circumstances.In fact, if people conduct themselves inan ethical manner, there will be mutual

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John Harsanyi

confidence and they will not only puttheir trust in each other, but they willhave good reason to do so, and weknow that a significant part ofeconomic life centres on people beingable to trust each other; otherwise theyare unable to co-operate and concludecontracts, and so on. It is best to behonest, even in economic respects!”

The activity of John Harsanyicontributed to economics andeconomic thinking becoming moresuitable for the accurate interpretationof the surrounding world, and to amore correct behaviour harmonisedwith this. In his lifework, wisdom andhonour, knowledge and humanismwere combined at the highest level.His example, his heritage and messageare of increasing importance andincreasingly topical in respect of thefuture knowledge-based society.

The First HungarianNobel Laureate of the21st Century

Hungarian Nobel Prize winners of the20th century received this mostdistinguished award for theirachievements in science. No less thanseven of these scientists were born inBudapest. Imre Kertész is the first writerto join their ranks and the first HungarianNobel Laureate of the 21st century.

The author of Fateless was born inthe early days of the Great Depression,on 9th November 1929. He was just 10at the outbreak of the Second WorldWar. Due to his Jewish parentageKertész was deported to Auschwitz in1944, and then on to Buchenwald. Theyoung boy entered the absurd world ofa totalitarian state, where commonsense and even an elementary sense ofdirection failed. The loss of controlover one’s own fate was total. ImreKertész learnt how to conform andthus to survive barbaric absolutism.

He was liberated from the deathcamp in 1945, and returned toBudapest. Thirty years of study,struggle and creative effort resulted inthe publication of his first novel in1975. Fateless is based on hisexperiences at Auschwitz andBuchenwald. It stands as the most

shocking Hungarian Holocaust novel.It is a stunningly credible and artisticallymoving depiction of the death campsystem and a philosophical expositionof fundamental existence. The author’spersonal observations of thedictatorships of both Hitler and Stalinand the great European, particularlyGerman, cultural and philosophicaltraditions gained through translationsand polemic were built in to hisadaptations of experiences.

The first publication of the workwent virtually unnoticed, as did Fiascoand Kaddish for a Child not Born, thetwo other novels in the trilogy.However, the political upheaval of1989 opened up hearts and minds to apositive acceptance of the works ofKertész, and this stimulated him towrite new novels. According to thereasoning of the Swedish Academy,Kertész’s style “is reminiscent of athickset hawthorn hedge, dense andthorny for unsuspecting visitors. But herelieves his readers of the burden ofcompulsory emotions and inspires asingular freedom of thought.”

Through his books Imre Kertészhas sent a message to the world aboutuniversal human existence and thespirit of man, and although he writes inHungarian translations of his worksinto Swedish, German, Spanish,French, Dutch, Hebrew, Italian andEnglish have created a bridge betweenHungarian literature and universalculture.

The admission of Imre Kertész to theranks of Hungarian Nobel Laureates hasbeen long awaited, and they have thuscreated together a spiritual bridgebetween the worlds of culture andscience. Earlier Hungarian Nobel Prizewinners emphasised the closerelationship between science andculture, and particularly literature. Georgvon Békés: “The human body consistsof two different things, the physiologicaland the mental part. And the mental partneeds many, many books.” Eugene P.Wigner: “It would be a mistake tosuppose that the material is moreimportant in the life of an individual.Human happiness also requires spiritualdimensions too.” Dennis Gabor: “In thatsmall, well-to-do circle, the middle classof Budapest, the ‘two cultures’ came intosuch close contact with each other thatits like has probably never been seenanywhere else in the world. We bothadored Western science and Westernliterature and the arts.” George A. Olah:“During my school days I read manyclassical, literary and historical works,and then later philosophical works […]Besides the classics, Hungarian literaturealso has a rich and wonderful collectionof superb works. One can only feel sorrythat, due to the language barrier, worksby many outstanding Hungarian writersand poets remain largely inaccessible tothe world as a whole.”

Thus Imre Kertész has come hometo take his rightful place among theHungarian Nobel Laureates.

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Hungarian Academy of Sciences

The Message of the Nobel Prizes for a Better World

Essentially, science is international anda scientist can contribute to severalprofessional fields and to the wealth ofseveral countries by means of his/herwork. The name of Robert Bárányreveals his Hungarian origin. RichardZsigmondy originated from a famousHungarian family. Both were born inVienna. However, Zsigmondyreceived the Nobel Prize in Stockholmas professor at the GöttingenUniversity (Germany). Robert Báránywas released from captivity by theSwedish Government during the FirstWorld War, and it is Sweden thatbecame his new home country and hisfinal repose. In memory of Bárány, theHungarian, Austrian and Swedish Post

Offices issued stamps. John C. Polanyi,son of the world famous chemist andphilosopher Michael Polanyi, whoemigrated from Budapest after the FirstWorld War, was born in Berlin as adescendant of an intellectual familythat played an important part inHungarian cultural life. He waseducated in England and received theNobel Prize as a citizen of Canada.

“I aim at becoming a useful subject ofa different country, America; and inaddition, of an even larger entity,humanity, while serving the important

common human objectives. However,all this does not alter the fact that I wasand remain a Hungarian and my homecountry is Hungary, as it was in mychildhood,” said Albert von Szent-Györgyi Nagyrapolt, who had had toemigrate after the Second World War. Hewas speaking on his return home after 25years of absence. In a similar way,George Olah, who emigrated followingthe suppression of the revolution in1956, said of his dual link: “My family andI found a new home country and, whilebeing proud of that I am a Hungarian, Ibecame American. [...] As for beingHungarian: I lived in Hungary fortwenty-nine years and, as I left Hungaryyoung, it is my best memories thatremained; in fact – and this is the goodthing about life – we remember thepleasant things. I am an American ofHungarian origin, and as I have said, thebest of both worlds is mine.”

People in Berlin, Budapest,Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Vienna, or evenin Washington can be proud of theresults of the Hungarian Nobel PrizeLaureates. The spirit of the Nobel Prizeencourages us to build bridges overthe borders of countries and theseparating walls of science.

It is an uplifting experience to viewthe Nobel Prize Laureates ofHungarian origin over the century. Thedramatic conclusion of the 20thcentury – the stormiest period inhuman history – appears concentrated

on this historic tableau: scientific-technical progress needs to be pairedwith moral-human progress. Thisrelationship was emphasised by Albertvon Szent-Györgyi Nagyrapolt morethan half a century ago in his Nobelpresentation delivered in 1937. Heended his speech – which can berightly considered an eternally validmessage from Nobel Prize Laureates –in the spirit of Alfred Nobel, linkingscience and humanism:

“The objective of my examinations isthe same as that of modern biochemistryin general: understanding thefunctioning of the organism. If weeventually understand the functioningof the organism, a completely new era inmedical sciences opens. However, it isapparent that until this distant objectiveis achieved, these examinations are notwithout success; in fact, we haverevealed a number of things aboutwhich we can hope – or even, alreadyknow – will mitigate human suffering.

“However, there also exists anotherpoint in my research activity that I havemuch pleasure in and I am proud of. Thisis not the results of my examinations. [...]What gives me infinite pleasure is, onlooking back to these examinations, thatthese were enabled by the wideinternational scientific fraternity,scientific co-operation and humansolidarity, without which I would haveperished and my experiments would nothave led to any results. It is an imposingfeeling to know that, in this inflamedworld full of malice, this spirit of fraternityand human solidarity lives at the highestlevel of science. I can only wish for thisspirit to radiate beyond the borders ofscience to lead mankind to a future betterthan the present.”

Ferenc NagyEditor-in-chief of the

Magyar Tudóslexikon

This compilation was put together onthe basis of material from the Nobel e-Museum (www.nobel.se), entries in theMagyar Tudóslexikon (HungarianEncyclopaedia of Scientists) and thework Our Nobel Laureate Geniuses (Bp.,2001) published by the author.

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Nobel Prize winners in the company of senior members of the Hungarian Academy ofSciences. From left, secretary-general Pál Michelberger, John Harsanyi, George Olah,President Domonkos Kosáry and secretary-general Béla Halász

Commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary (www.kum.hu)

Printed by Pharma Press Kft. • Budapest, 2003