Congratulatory Letters
In the morning hours following the announcement of Albert Szent-Györgyi’s Nobel Prize win, one of the first letters of congratulation the new Nobel laureate received was from Prime Minister Kálmán Darányi: “Your Excellency, please accept my sincerest congratulations on being awarded the 1937 Nobel Prize in Medicine. This honor has brought international recognition to the Hungarian nation and is especially significant for us, as it not only acknowledges Your Excellency’s dedicated and successful scientific research, conducted over the years for the benefit of humanity, but also pays tribute to Hungarian science itself. May the Almighty continue to support Your Excellency in your ever so important medical research. Prime Minister Dr. Kálmán Darányi” (Hungary, October 30, 1937).
Soon, telegrams and congratulatory letters flooded Szent-Györgyi’s desk. “Greetings come from the youngest to the oldest of people, from the audiences of Uncle Lakner’s children’s theatre, from community groups in villages, and from ordinary workers to the leaders and major institutions of our society. [...] I feel as though I have been swept away by an uncontained tide of love and appreciation, as if this were not just a celebration of my personal achievements, but also a family celebration of our Hungarian unity. [...] Even in the streets, wherever I went, I saw joy radiating from everyone’s faces. I am convinced that my happiness is shared not only by those who greeted me but perhaps by all who call themselves Hungarian, with many letters and telegrams in people’s souls left unwritten…” (Published in the daily paper Magyar Hirlap on November 7, 1937.)
The Szent-Györgyi Collection of the Klebelsberg Library at the University of Szeged holds over 400 congratulatory letters. The digitization of these documents is expected to be completed in the near future (http://misc.bibl.u-szeged.hu/view/collection/col=5Fhagyatek=5Fszgya=5Fgrat/1937.html; last accessed: September 10, 2021).
Although selecting a few letters to highlight is quite challenging, the following sample should demonstrate the curator’s efforts to do so.
A sample of congratulatory letters
The fact that these letters of congratulation have survived to this day is probably due in no small part to András Daday (1899–1973), a private professor of the Faculty of Medicine, who wrote the following in his congratulatory letter to Szent-Györgyi: “May I, on this occasion, also kindly request that you preserve all written statements related to the Nobel Prize to ensure that they become the most valuable exhibits of a future museum of medical history to be established in Szeged.” In making this request, Daday acted entirely within his official remit, as his research area, specified at the time of his appointment as a private professor in 1933, was “Chapters in the History of Medicine in Hungary, with a Focus on the Development of Our Public Health System”. In 1937, he was tasked with establishing a medical history museum on the premises of the university in Szeged; however, the project never came to fruition.
Congratulatory letter from the teaching staff of Szent-Györgyi’s former high school, the Reformed High School [formerly Grammar School] of Budapest on Lónyay Street, signed by Principal Ferenc Ványi (The Hungarian name of the school had changed since Szent-Györgyi’s studies there.)
URL: http://misc.bibl.u-szeged.hu/47714/1/1937_4_065.pdf (last accessed: September 10, 2021)
Congratulatory letter from the teaching staff of Szent-Györgyi’s alma mater, the Faculty of Medicine at the Royal Hungarian Péter Pázmány University (known as “University of Budapest” when Szent-Györgyi was a student there), signed by Dean Sándor Belák
URL: http://misc.bibl.u-szeged.hu/47687/1/1937_4_033.pdf (last accessed: September 10, 2021)
Congratulatory letter from attorney Béla Banga
URL: http://misc.bibl.u-szeged.hu/47720/1/1937_4_073.pdf (last accessed: September 10, 2021)
Congratulatory letter from the Association of Paprika Growers of Szeged and the Region of Szeged, signed by Chair József Papp and other members
URL: http://misc.bibl.u-szeged.hu/47950/1/levelek_009.pdf (last accessed: September 10, 2021)
Congratulatory letter from artist Ferenc Dinnyés, who signed his letter as “the painter of Szeged’s paprika markets and paprika-splitting girls”
URL: http://misc.bibl.u-szeged.hu/47813/1/1937november_006-007.pdf (last accessed: September 10, 2021)
Congratulatory letter from the students of the State Elementary School of Nagycsere, signed by State Teacher Zoltán Herboly and the students
URL: http://misc.bibl.u-szeged.hu/47951/1/levelek_010.pdf (last accessed: September 10, 2021)
Szent-Györgyi in Budapest: a private audience with the Regent of Hungary and a visit to the radio studio
On October 31, Regent Miklós Horthy’s cabinet also sent a telegram to Szent-Györgyi:
“His Most Exalted Excellency the Regent is proud of the outstanding recognition Your Excellency’s scientific success has received in the form of the Nobel Prize, the first ever awarded to a Hungarian scientist living on Hungarian soil. His Most Exalted Excellency has kindly requested me to convey to Your Excellency his warmest wishes of good fortune. Court Councilor and State Secretary Uray” (Published in the daily evening paper Esti Kurir on November 3, 1937.) A few days later, Horthy personally received Szent-Györgyi, inviting him to the royal palace on November 4. This photo was taken after his private audience with the Regent at Buda Castle.
During his few days in Budapest, Szent-Györgyi also made time for a speech on Hungarian national radio. He explained that this was because he had received so many congratulatory letters and telegrams that if he had followed his heart and answered them all, he would have had no time for anything else. “Not knowing what to do, I approached the management of the radio [i.e., Literary Director Gyula Somogyváry] in the hope of being allowed a few minutes in front of the microphone so that I could thank my Hungarian brothers and sisters who have shared and thereby multiplied my joy and happiness.” In his speech, he also commented on receiving the Nobel Prize, making the following humble statement (which was also quoted in the daily paper Magyar Hirlap on November 7, 1937): “For a modest, quiet person working in science, to receive such an honor seems almost incomprehensible, as a researcher does nothing more than satisfy their own desire through research. Moreover, researchers do not rejoice in success or in the results achieved. Instead, they are always seeking new, unknown truths, constantly overwhelmed by the daunting grandeur of the unknown and the even more daunting insignificance of the known. One can never cease doing research.”
After his radio address, he also gave an interview at the request of László Cs. Szabó, who headed the literary department of the radio corporation. Szent-Györgyi’s answers during the interview elicited a highly positive response from the public. This was one of the earliest instances of him expressing his commitment to peace and human solidarity – foreshadowing the main theme of his memorable speeches during the Nobel Week in Stockholm: “In addition to their scientific efforts, people of science all over the world today are primarily concerned with the question of peace. For all our efforts will be in vain if our discoveries are turned into instruments of destruction and the fruits of our peaceful labor are destroyed by a world conflagration.” (Published in the daily paper Magyar Hirlap on November 7, 1937.)
Writer, poet, literary translator, and visual artist Lajos Kassák wrote the following in his own periodical, the left-wing, avant-garde Munka [Work], reflecting on Szent-Györgyi’s radio address:
“This year in Stockholm, Albert Szent-Györgyi, a university professor from Szeged, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his outstanding work and scientific achievements. I was delighted to hear the good news, and, though unprompted, I feel compelled to partake in the joy of a scientist whose merits are so highly appreciated. Upon reading his radio address in the papers, I found myself involuntarily letting out a sigh, accompanied by the words of the poet [Endre Ady]: ‘A human amidst inhumanity.’
A human who, amidst the inhumanity of the world we live in, has spent decades doing research, weighing options, and performing analyses, all in the pursuit of a higher way of life; who spends hours at the laboratory but still makes time to observe the chaotic landscape around him, to uncover hidden and elusive social dynamics, to rise above being a detached onlooker and make a change in the middle of all the confusion, willfully and constructively. A man who, while immersed in his work, recognizes and boldly states in the most solemn moments, ‘There is no free path for talent in this country; our scientific institutions are deeply flawed.’ Moreover, he doesn’t just point out problems but also seeks potential solutions. Above all, he fears the lack of preparedness and the intellectual paralysis rampant among our youth, and thus advocates for timely school reforms. Not for a moment does he wander off into the maze of politics, understanding all too well how much harm, individual and societal suffering are inflicted on people today by those unscrupulous speculating politicians who, from right and left, from below and above, like herders driving their livestock to the slaughterhouse, are sending thousands and hundreds of thousands of people to certain death. In the jungle of journalistic clichés, how pleasant it was to read the professor’s humble yet thoughtful and very true words when he said, ‘For a modest, quiet person working in science, to receive such an honor seems almost incomprehensible, as a researcher does nothing more than satisfy their own desire through research.’ What a clear, straightforward, and reassuring statement that is! Without any hysterical outbursts, it calls out the pests of life, the cunning swindlers, and the fools who get caught in their schemes, exposing the social truth that it is in their most subjective desires, feelings, and thoughts that humans reveal their own social significance.
I sincerely believe that Professor Szent-Györgyi’s tireless scientific pursuits and his commitment to ethical human conduct can serve as a model for all those who genuinely wish to rebuild their ruined lives and are able to recognize that, beyond the billboards and the ensnaring traps of power politics, there are other thriving forces at work, endeavoring relentlessly to heal our sick bodies and nurture our weary spirits.
Perhaps it does not seem too absurd to think that political profiteers have not yet been able to push us so deeply into the mud that the cultivators of science can no longer help us restore our human dignity.”
Kassák, Lajos: Szent-Györgyi Albert tiszteletére [In Honor of Albert Szent-Györgyi] (Munka, December 1937)
URL: http://misc.bibl.u-szeged.hu/id/eprint/47301 (last accessed: September 10, 2021)