HUNGARIAN MEDICAL SCHOOLS IN TRANSYLVANIA

• Short history

• Ethnic structure of the Marosvásárhely medical university teachers

• A summary report on the University Senate meeting on Jan. 12, 2000

• Petition of the Hungarian university teachers for a Hungarian branch

University level medical education was first introduced in Transylvania with the founding of the Kolozsvár University of Science (in Romanian= Cluj, in German: Klausenburg) (http://www.msci.memphis.edu/~matlakz/kolozsvar/index.html) in 1872. (The language of teaching was Hungarian). This was the second university founded in Hungary after the University of Budapest (Note: until the Treaty of Trianon of 1920 ending World War I, Transylvania was integral part of Hungary). In 1893 the University of Science of Kolozsvár was renamed after its founder, and became the Ferencz József University of Science (in German: Franz Josef, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary). In May 1919, the provisory Romanian Governing Council of Transylvania took control over the university and its medical teaching center. From the year of 1920, the Ferencz József University of Science continued to exist in the Hungarian city Szeged (http://internetto.szeged.hu/), near to the Romanian border . In the meantime, in the fall of 1919, the Universitatea Regele Ferdinand I, with exclusively Romanian language education, was founded in Kolozsvár within the walls of the previous Ferencz József University of Science.

Following the Second Vienna Arbitration in 1940 (returning some Northern and Eastern parts - 43,492 km² - of Transylvania to Hungary), the Ferencz József University of Science re-opened in Kolozsvár. In September 1944, at the end of WWII, in spite of the evacuation order received, the University continued to work, and its leaders - President Dezső Miskolczy, Law-professor, Vice-President László Búza and the Dean of the Medical Faculty Imre Haynal remained in place. (Translator's note: Thanks mainly to the fact that because of atrocities committed by Romanian paramilitary troops against ethnic Hungarians, the Soviet Union expelled the re-installing Romanian administration and introduced Soviet military government until mid March 1945).

These university professors, by remaining behind the front lines, were not only satisfying the wishes of the Hungarian community from Transylvania but were sharing its fate as well. Despite wartime conditions the university continued to work. In December 1945 the university changed its name to Bolyai University of Sciences of Kolozsvár. In the same year the Universitatea Regele Ferdinand I moved back from Szeben (in Romanian: Sibiu, in German: Hermannstadt) - where was transferred in 1940 - to Kolozsvár. As the medical teaching center proved to be too small for two universities, the Faculty of Medicine of the Bolyai University of Sciences was moved to Marosvásárhely (http://www.mures.ro/en/history.html) (in Romanian: Târgu Mureş, in German: Neumarkt) and a new university named Marosvásárhely Medical and Pharmacological University was founded (the language of education was still Hungarian at that time).

Taking advantage of the fact that many of the students sympathized with the Hungarian fight for freedom (Trans. note: a revolution against Communism and Soviet occupation) of 1956, and that the Soviet Union radically changed its stance respecting the Romanian politics toward ethnic minorities, the Romanian government introduced bilingual education in the Marosvásárhely Medical and Pharmacological University. Courses were held both in Hungarian and Romanian, but seminars were only in Romanian. Some departments were teaching only in Romanian. The number of ethnic Hungarian students started to decrease. There was a sudden drop in the admission of Hungarian students. The percentage of Hungarian students admitted in 1966 was 91%, in 1984: 50%, and in 1989 only 23%, in spite that the absolute number of students increased. A similar trend maybe observed in the number of Hungarian professors. Due to the persistent work of the Hungarian Students Association the number of ethnic Hungarian students increased since the revolution of 1989, but the number of Hungarian professors kept dwindling.

THE UNIVERSITY DOES NOT HAVE A LEGALLY DEFINED HUNGARIAN DIVISION!
In November 1999, the Hungarian Professors, Lecturers and Assistant Professors presented a petition to the Board of the University. They requested the transforming of the university into a bilingual school, with the establishing of a Hungarian Division. This division was supposed to be set up in such a way as to have the right to make all decisions concerning Hungarian teaching matters. From the point of view of the Hungarian language medical education in Transylvania, there is an urgent need for the approval of the above-mentioned petition. Failing to obtain such approval, this type of teaching will soon disappear due to the dwindling number of Hungarian professors. The present ethnic composition of the Marosvásárhely Medical and Pharmacological University is the following:

The petition - thanks to the opposition of the Romanian leaders - was not even included on the agenda of the Senate Meeting held on January 12, 2000.

Levente Ráduly, Med. Dr.

Student association representative Zsolt Ölvedy was present at the Senate meeting held on January 12, 2000. Let's see in the following his summary report on the event:

One of the signatories of the petition asked if the petition would be discussed at the meeting. The answer of the (Romanian) University President was that he considered the petition a bad practical joke therefore he did not even contemplate bringing it to the attention of his Romanian colleagues. "If the Romanian professors knew even about the absurdities and illegalities contained in the petition (I don't know what happened)..." - the President said. He (the President) was hoping that people would learn to behave "in a legal manner", because even the new Education Law contains clear indication that is mandatory to teach the terminology in Romanian. As he (the President) did not want to cause problems, he put the petition away to a place known only to himself. (Note: This was in fact a legal, registered document addressed to the Senate of the University, signed by sixty-four Hungarian university teachers).

Summing up all: in the opinion of the University President, if the Hungarian teachers want a university of their own, they can freely move out on the nearby hill-top, and can publish their objections in the local newspaper of the student association.

Petition addressed to the Romanian Ministry of Education signed by sixty-four Hungarian teachers of the Medical and Pharmacological University of Marosvásárhely

November 19, 1999.

Registration Number: 7263

Whereas the Romanian Parliament adopted the new Education Law which created the frame for the establishing of colleges, departments and faculties in minority languages, thus a proper and legal framework was created for the organization and development of university education in minority languages;

We the undersigned ask for the following:

1. The Medical and Pharmacological University of Marosvásárhely to be declared a bilingual institution;
2. Bilingualism to be institutionalized by the creation of a Romanian language branch and a Hungarian language branch;
3. Branches to be constituted of faculties and colleges according to the language of education;
4. Each branch be given rights to make decisions regarding the teaching in the respective languages; and
5. The Charta of the University to be modified to reflect the above.

We respectfully request the Board of Directors to include this petition in the agenda of the next Senate meeting.

Signed: 64 Hungarian university teachers.

This petition was published also in the supplement named RMDSZ Hírmondó (RMDSZ= Democratic Alliance of Hungarians from Romania) of the Népújság newspaper (http://www.hhrf.org/nepujsag/) on December 28, 1999.

As a latest news we have to note that on March 1, 2000, - after three and half months of silence (it was need for a "legal expertise") - the University President was inclined to read the petition during the Senate meeting, but rejected it by saying that this issue belongs to the competence of the Romanian Parliament and cannot be solved within the frame of the University self-government.