High School Reunion in Budapest – March 4, 1938

Szent-Györgyi had strong ties to Budapest: he was born, raised, and educated in the capital, attending schools there from elementary school through university. He graduated from the Budapest Reformed Grammar School on Lónyay Street (Photo 2) in 1911. A photograph by Ödön Uher, a local photographer, captures him as a graduating student (Photo 1). By a stroke of luck, a congratulatory letter (Photo 3) from the school’s teaching staff has been preserved, providing a glimpse into how they celebrated their former student for being awarded the highest scientific honor. A few lines from the letter read:

“Beyond the gratifying feeling that this highest recognition in the world has been awarded to a Hungarian scientist, and a Calvinist at that, we take particular pride in it because Professor Szent-Györgyi was once a student at our school. This achievement may now be etched in our institution’s history in golden letters.” (October 29, 1937)

The Klebelsberg Library at the University of Szeged also preserves the congratulatory letter written by Budapest attorney Béla “Stöhe” Stéger to his former high school classmate, Albert Szent-Györgyi, by then a Nobel laureate. In the letter, dated November 1937, Stéger proposes organizing a reunion to celebrate the award, with both the school’s alumni and Professor Szent-Györgyi himself in attendance:

“[...] the alumni of the Reformed Grammar School who graduated in 1911, upon reading the joyful news in the newspapers, reached out to me, asking that we collectively extend our congratulations and convey our heartfelt best wishes. [...] On behalf of my former classmates, I ask you to set aside an evening in December, after you return from Sweden, and honor us by joining us, your classmates for a gathering in Budapest. [...] I will invite the boys so that we can celebrate with you and offer our congratulations on this well-deserved honor, one we have long anticipated.”

The alumni were eventually only able to meet in March the following year. For the complete letter, click on the following link: http://misc.bibl.u-szeged.hu/47890/1/1937november_112-113.pdf (last accessed: September 10, 2021)

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Szent-Györgyi took the floor

"Dear Friends, do not expect a speech or a grand oration from me. Perhaps it is because I spent twenty years without speaking that I’ve now been granted this honor. In some careers, success comes from speaking up, while in others, it’s more about kissing up in order to advance. I did not follow such a path. It was hard work and strong will that guided me, along with the spirit I absorbed within the walls of our high school.

Everyone can give only what they have, and I offer my warm affection to all – the teachers, students, and every brick of the school (even its overflowing urinals).

During our high school years, we looked back on our elementary school days with a sense of superiority. As life’s struggles unfold, the past loses some of its former significance and, in hindsight, appears reduced in scale. However, one thing remains unchanged: the old affection. This affection drives a person in their career – along with the passion for science that was instilled in me by the once-feared school.

As for me, I can’t claim to have been an outstanding student during my high school years. I will never forget that in German class, I loosely translated the word ‘Frauenzimmer’ as ‘women’s room’. One time, halfway through the year, the grade I received in natural history and chemistry from our teacher, Mr. Török, was merely 'good’. For several days, I anxiously waited for the postman by the gate, hoping to able to hide the disappointing report card from my parents.

Life reevaluates everything, but it cannot reevaluate love. With this love, I greet you, my classmate Dezső Loessl.

I’m not ashamed to admit that, as you all remember, I was the biggest whistle-blower in the class in the fourth grade. [Uproarious dissent.] Our head teacher, Teacher Bálint Varga, made me understand that the youth was plunging headlong toward utter ruin. When I reported some of you for your mischief, I did it only to save you from that utter ruin.

Then, on a beautiful spring day, my friend Dezső, you invited me for a walk on the Svábhegy hill, intending to cure me of my intolerable tendency to tell on others by giving me a thorough beating. Although the beating never happened, you kindly explained to me that telling on others was not a comrade’s virtue; and a few weeks later, Mr. Varga declared in front of the class that I was the most unreliable fellow among you.

So that is how I escaped utter ruin; God bless you for it. But now I must scold you, as I cannot forgive you for addressing me as ‘Your Excellency’ in your most recent kind letter. Had I been there when you wrote it, I would have certainly given you a thorough beating for that.

Dear Friends, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for the warm welcome you have given me here, and I ask that you continue to accept me as a friend and companion just as you did during our school years. May God bless you all!"

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Dezső Loessl’s aforementioned letter, with its formal style and use of the address “Your Excellency”, has also survived. This is noteworthy, as the letter vividly recounts some of the shared experiences from the student years of Szent-Györgyi and his classmates:

"25 years ago, when I was a daily visitor in the study room in your apartment on Ráday Street, where we studied together and had fun, I never imagined that my little friend Berci, who was loved by everyone and especially dear to me, would one day become such a world-famous scientist. I vividly remember the face of your beautiful mother smiling as she would bring us snacks in the study room, as well as the face of your older brother when he once went to see the flood in Óbuda, riding his new bicycle."
For the complete letter, click on the following link:
http://misc.bibl.u-szeged.hu/47810/1/1937november_001.pdf (last accessed: September 10, 2021)