Hungary through the Centuries [antikvár]

Hungary through the Centuries xiii Foreword T ^he pages that follow in this Festschrift will appropriately celebrate a lifetime of achievement by Steven and Ágnes Várdy. It will chronicle their lives of dedication to scholarship and to young scholars. It will reflect the richness and variety of their efforts: histories that track the course of empires as well as contemporary studies of history's wicked problems like ethnic cleansing and Soviet Gulags; decidedly more gentle works on the cultural richness of Central Europe; celebrations of life embodied in Magyar folktales and children's books; and other important chronicles relating the experience of their native Hungary and of Hungarians in America. This is an impressive body of work, but I met Professor Steven Várdy before any of it was done. I met Steven Várdy in the mid 1960s as he began his four decade career at Duquesne University, a newly arrived professor with a somewhat thick accent, an enthusiasm for his subject and the unhappy task of introducing the intricacies of the History of Westem Civilization to largely unwilling freshmen and sophomores. That he did it well is probably best indicated by still strong memories of the experience. We were taught in the campus theater in the basement of the Duquesne University chapel. Most survey courses were taught there. Crowded together with scores of our classmates we reluctantly allowed ourselves to be introduced to the principal roots of our own culture. 1 suspect that my experience was typical of many of my classmates: first generation of the family to attend university; likely commuting to class while working part time; limited travel beyond Westem Pennsylvania; and previous reading confined to mostly American classics and popular fiction. And now enter young Steven Várdy to introduce us to the intricate dynastic politics of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the instability inherent in a variety of Balkan tribes, the still relevant secularism of the Enlightenment. And all the time working hard to explain why any of that should matter to us! As it tumed out, in later life it mattered a lot and although each of our experiences was surely different, I am confident that all of my classmates benefitted from Steven Várdy's enthusiasm and scholarship. In my own case, I still remember thinking of him decades later when