Identity Statement

Reference Code

HU OSA 300-40-6

Title

Biographical Card Files

Date(s)

1948 - 1992

Description Level

Series

Extent and medium (processed)

27 Archival card box, 8.51 linear meters

Content and Structure

Scope and Content (Abstract)

This series consists of biographical index cards.

The cards contain information on a huge number of personalities with "public role" in Hungarian political, economic, scientific, cultural and artistic life, gathered from both official and unofficial sources. Official sources included Hungarian and Western Press, Hungarian monitoring materials, reference books and news agency releases. Among the unofficial sources we can mention the Information Items (interviews with travelers or defectors), and, in the case of party officials, verbal communications with people familiar with the inner life of the communist party or members of Western delegations to Hungary.

The cards have a well established, more or less uniform structure. From the official sources we learn about the biographic data of the respective person and the different stages of his/her career; a list of domestic visits and travels abroad, awards, distictions, excerpts from public speeches, the person's famous sayings, and occasionally publications is also included. The most important personalities have a so called "cuts" section attached to their cards containing their photos taken from the media. Last, but not least, the "unofficial" parts of the cards generally reveal "human" qualities of these people by giving insight into their everyday life-conduct, which not always features them in the most advantageous complexion.

Just a few infamous names from this long list: János Kádár, Béla Biszku (with 43 double-sided cards), Gábor Péter, Pál Losonczi, Antal Apró, Imre Pozsgay, and many others. János Kádár, being a crucial figure of the recent past, has over one hundred double-sided cards, also containing additional sub-chapters on his relationship with eurocommunism, human rights, the Church, and on minor issues like his interviews with Western correspondents or his regular yearly vacation.

Accruals

Not Expected

System of arrangement

Arranged alphabetically and thereunder chronologically

Conditions of Access and Use

Conditions governing access

Unknown

Languages

English, Hungarian

Notes

Note

Under microfilming

Description Control

Archivist's note

Arranged by Ferenc Nemzetes and Miklos Banyasz; prleiminary descrption prepared by Csaba Szilagyi, January 29, 2002.