Identity Statement

Reference Code

HU OSA 458

Title

László Cséry Collection

Date(s)

1952 - 2001

Description Level

Fonds

Extent and medium (processed)

2 Oversized box (40 cm), 0.8 linear meters

Context

Name of creator(s)

Cséry, László

Administrative / Biographical history

László Cséry was born in Budapest on June 29, 1930. His name at birth was László János Pál Berger. His mother was Erzsébet Guzmics, his father, a railroad employee, was Ede László Cséry (Berger).

László Cséry went to elementary school in Albertfalva, and attended high school at the Saint Stephen Gymnasium of the Premonstratensian Order in Budafok (Albertfalvi Állami Elemi Népiskola and Jászóvári Premontrei Kanonokrend Szent István Gimnáziuma, respectively, both near Budapest). He started his university studies in 1948 at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the (Hungarian Royal) Palatine Joseph University of Technology and Economics, and graduated as an engineer from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of - in the meantime renamed - Budapest Technical University (currently Budapest University of Technology and Economics) in 1952.

In 1951, Cséry's name was added to the national register of professionals (országos szakértői névjegyzék). First he worked at the Civil Engineering Planning Company (Mélyépítési Tervező Vállalat) as an expert and editor, then from 1952 to 1970 he was an employee of the Csepel Automobile Factory (Csepel Autógyár). Throughout this period he was also a lecturer at the Technical Institute for Smelting and Engineering (Kohó- és Gépipari Technikum), the Machine Design Department of Budapest Technical University (Budapesti Műszaki Egyetem Géprajz Tanszéke), and he also taught at the technical college that was started around this time in Shebeen El Kom, Egypt, between 1961 and 1963. In 1968 he was awarded the Worker's Excellence Award in Engineering (A Gépipar Kiváló Dolgozója).

From 1970 until his retirement in 1978, he worked at the Hungarian Office for Standardization (Magyar Szabványügyi Hivatal). In this period he frequently visited Geneva, where he represented Hungary at the reunions of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and during sessions on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Between 1985 and 1990 he served as President of the Technical Board of the International Organization for Standardization.

In 1973 he was awarded a doctorate, and one year later he earned the Silver Class Work Order of Merit (Munka Érdemrend ezüst fokozata). In 1982 he received the Memorial Medal (Emlékérem) of the Federation of Technical Scientific Associations (Műszaki Tudományos Egyesületek Szövetsége, MTESZ). In 1986 he was awarded the Gold Class Work Order of Merit (Munka Érdemrend arany fokozata).

His last employment - as a pensioner - was with Rolitron (later: Synergon) Ltd., between 1988 and 2001.

Throughout his life, he has held numerous side jobs. He has published in learned journals (Műszaki Élet, Szabványosítás, Gépipar), has written textbooks, edited others' work, and conducted language exams. He was a longtime member of the Fair Commission (Vásárbizottság) of MTESZ and of the National Technical Development Commission (Országos Műszaki Fejlesztési Bizottság).

László Cséry passed away on May 29, 2001, in Budapest.

(Source of biographical information: the biographical summary by Ágnes Cséry, which is also part of this collection.)

Archival history

The documents have been transferred to Blinken OSA by Ágnes Cséry, daughter of László Cséry, in early 2022.

Content and Structure

Scope and Content (Narrative)

The collection consists of a single archival series documenting the work of László Cséry at Csepel Autógyár between 1952 and 1970. The series is accommodated in two oversize boxes.

László Cséry's collection consist of a handful of documents (mostly photo albums), but its importance and uniqueness are not to be underestimated. Cséry was an engineer with the eye of a documentarist: while at Csepel Autógyár, he recorded important aspects of his and his colleagues' work, including the workshop buildings and the technology used within them, mostly with his photo camera. The collection also includes a handful of pictorial reports of study trips made abroad. It is highly unlikely that copies of either of these have been preserved elsewhere. This collection will be most useful to researchers studying industrial production and industrial design under socialism, and particularly, at Csepel Autógyár.

Accruals

Expected

Conditions of Access and Use

Conditions governing access

Not Restricted

Languages

Hungarian

Description Control

Archivist's note

Processed by Mark László-Herbert, July 31, 2022.