A Final Farewell to TÜBA Honorary Member Prof. Dr. György Hazai
The funeral services for famous Hungarian Turcologist Prof. Gyorgy Hazai took place with the attendance of TÜBA President Prof. Ahmet Cevat Acar and many scientists from various countries on February 26 in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.
In the speech by Academy President Prof. Acar, who talked about the works of Prof. Hazai in the field of Turcology as a TÜBA Honorary Member, his efforts towards improving Hungary-Turkey relations and his highly values sincerity, said “The Academic Conference on “Turcology’s Problems of Today” that Prof. Hazai presented on June 14, 2015 at TÜBA’s 47th General Assembly and our visit with him in the hospital in November of 2015 were both historically significant events for us. We consider the publication of the professor’s three works that we are currently working on to be a matter of honor for TÜBA, as well as a debt of gratitude to our valued professor. We commemorate our valued Professor with the highest respect and offer our condolences to his family, friends and the scientific community".
In addition to the Hazai family, the funeral was attended by Ambassador of Turkey in Hungary Şakir Fakılı, MHP Istanbul Deputy Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, TÜBA Chairman Prof. Ahmet Cevat Acar, Turkish Language Institute Chairman Prof. Mustafa Kaçalin, Retired Ambassador Ender Arat, Azerbaijan Ambassador to Hungary Adalet Guliyev, Prof. Andres Tietze’s daughter Filiz Tietze, and many scientists and embassy representatives from Turkey, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Cyprus and other countries.
Who was Prof. György Hazai?
One of the representatives of the Turcology tradition founded in the 1800s in Hungary and continued by Armin Vamberi, Prof. Hazai was born on April 30, 1932 in Budapest. He started college in 1950. In 1954, he graduated from the Budapest Lorant University Faculty of Arts and Humanities Turcology Department. After graduating he began researching Turkish dialects in Bulgaria in 1954-1955. Participating in the travel conducted under the Nemet administration, Prof. Hazai gave Turcology classes as a guest teacher at University of Sofia in 1956-1957 and completed his doctorate in Turkish language. In 1963, he settled in Berlin where he would conduct many years of research. In 1966, he achieved the title of doctor from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Returning to Hungary again in1983, the famous Turcologist had been the Manager of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Publishing House for 8 years. In 1992, he became the Turcology Department Head of the University of Cyprus. Hazai, who had succeeded in instilling the excitement of Turkish language and history in Cyprus, returned to Budapest in the year 2000 and served as the founding rector of Andras University for 3 years.
In his long and productive academic life, Hazai conducted in depth research on various subjects of Turkish language and history, prepared a number of different texts for publication that are considered some of the principal works of Ottoman Turkish, conducted methodological research to guide the examination of Ottoman Turkish, and provided guidance to younger researchers on research methods.
Prof. Dr. György Hazai studies the Turkish dialects in the Balkans and also worked on transcribing Turkish text with Cyrillic and Latin letters.
Throughout his scientific life of nearly 60 years, he published over 20 books and 300 scientific research and study articles. With over 10 scientific introductions, critiques, and a variety of encyclopedic articles on the Turkish language, history, literature and culture and the international translations he did from Hungarian to German and from Hungarian to Turkish Prof. Haza became a doyen of Turcology.
Elected as a TÜBA honorary member in 2001 Prof. Dr. György Hazai was presented with a ‘Medal of Merit’ in 2014 by the 11th President Abdullah Gül.
