On the 90th birthday of Sándor Dörnyei

Our dear colleague Dr. Sándor Dörnyei, medical historian and bibliographer, Bibliothecarius Emeritus of our Library celebrated his 90^th birthday on November 4, 2016. Sándor Dörnyei started working for National Széchényi Library as a scholarship-holder in 1949. Back then, within the framework of the so-called National Library Center, his main task was to assess the stock of nationalized libraries and carry them to a safe location. In 1956 he was fired because he participated in the activities of the revolutionary committee of the Library. Dörnyei rejoined NSZL in 1986 as a senior associate of the Editorial Office of Early Hungarian Prints. His job was to take part in the compilation of a retrospective bibliography of prints made before 1801. Among others, he was responsible for compiling the supplement to the 3^rd Volume of Régi Magyar Könyvtár (Old Hungarian Library) by Károly Szabó and its “continuation”, the bibliography of publications by 18^th-century Hungarian authors published abroad in foreign languages.

Birthday celebration started at 11 a.m. on November 22, 2016 in the lounge of the Library on Floor 8. At the cordial ceremony, friends, colleagues, fellow researchers and his students greeted Sándor Dörnyei. Respecters of the medical historian and bibliographer presented him a celebration book including personal greetings as well as studies on the history of medicine, pharmacy and press, and various writings related to research in national bibliography and to other fields of cultural history. Judit P. Vásárhelyi, Head of the Department of Research in Book and Cultural History and Péter Perger, editor of the book greeted Dörnyei, who was presented the volume by Péter Perger and László Boka, Director of Research and Academic Affairs, NSZL. Sándor Dörnyei thanked for the celebration, and he recalled his almost lifelong relationship with National Széchényi Library and the decades he had spent with his “family”, meaning the Early Hungarian Prints division. Welcome drinks and a small party were followed by an informal conversation.

Data of the book:
Péter Perger (Ed.)
Alexander multifrons: Tanulmányok a 90 éves Dörnyei Sándor tiszteletére (Alexander Multifrons: Studies in Honor of 90-year Old Sándor Dörnyei)
Budapest, Argumentum Publishing House; NSZL, 2016, 214 pages
Booklets of Hungarian Book Review and Mokka–R Association; 8.
ISBN:978-963-446-781-6

Table of Contents (in Hungarian)