The Written Sources of the History of the Elisabeth University

Abstract

The records of the Elisabeth University's stay in Bratislava, then in Budapest and later in Pécs, are the primary sources of the history of the institution. They can also be effectively used by many other researchers in the fields of political, social, intellectual and educational history. The documents are not only important as relics but they also play an important role in shaping the identity of the university. Many of these documents are kept and can be researched in the University Archives of the University of Pécs.

Among the principal documents of the university as an institution, there are the minutes of the governing body: they are not only the most important repositories of organisational changes, infrastructure and personnel decisions, but also of the major university policy decisions. The records of the central administration, the faculties, the Quaestura, the clinics, the library and other units are a rich source of everyday university life. The richness of the student records makes them an important basis for social history research.

The private papers, mostly bequests of professors, are a significant source of academic contacts and public life. The small prints (invitations, posters, etc.) represent academic and scientific life.

The memoirs, interviews and works of fiction - although they can be used with strong source criticism - cover countless processes or events that cannot be found elsewhere, and their presentation gives even the non-specialist a vivid picture of this period of higher education.

Several journals and publication series were linked to the University of Pécs, and they provided an insight into the academic work of the individual faculties. At that time, the journals tended to be centred around an important teacher. Minerva was edited by Tivadar Thienemann, Pannónia by Jenő Koltay-Kastner and later József Halasy-Nagy, Műhely (Workshop) by János Koszó and Kisebbségi Körlevél (Minority Newsletter) by Ferenc Faluhelyi. Students published their academic work in the Specimina dissertation series, and their writings on student life were published in various student magazines.