Zsuzsa Ferge's Library and Records at the Archivum
Multiple days of this April are particularly memorable for us: Zsuzsa Ferge, a key figure in 20th-century Hungarian sociology, passed away a year ago, on April 4, 2024, and would have celebrated her 94th birthday on April 25. In 2021, she donated her library to the Blinken OSA Archivum; this month, we also received her electronic records from her family.
Processing of the library began in December 2024, and currently more than 400 volumes are available. The books are stored as a special collection, physically separated. Most of them are related to social science and sociology; monographs and studies written in English, French, and Hungarian, on topics spanning from child poverty to the social transformations after the 1989 regime change and to the status of women. Many books contain authors' recommendations, these are mostly courtesy copies received from students, colleagues, and friends, which the recipient apparently did read; some of them bear comments written in pencil by Ferge.
In accordance with the donor's intention, we separated Hungarian and English-language works of fiction, children's books, and educational publications, and donated them to the Beregszász Central Library. The Transcarpathian Sárkányellátó Foundation helped deliver the volumes.
A few weeks ago, we received the electronic records of Zsuzsa Ferge; more than 22 thousand e-mails, studies, translations, texts, images, videos, and audio materials. The correspondence, as well as the many dedicated volumes, confirm that Ferge was not only outstanding as a social scientist and sociologist, but also, through her human connections and extensive professional network, she was a driving force behind Hungarian sociological research, education, and social policy.
