Name: Dr. phil., dr. jur., dr. h.c. Bálint Kovács, Head of the Department
Contact: kovacs.balint@btk.ppke.hu
Research
From 1999 to 2005, Bálint Kovàcs studied history and theology at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University (PPCU) in Budapest. In 2010, he obtained his PhD with a thesis entitled »Armenian Culture after the ecclesiastical union in Transylvania«. Thereupon, from 2006 to 2012, he studied at the Faculty of Law of the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, graduating with a law degree (dr. jur.). In 2016, he was appointment as Head of the newly established Department of Armenian Studies at Budapest’s Pázmány Péter Catholic University. From 2020 to 2021, he taught at the MESROP Centre for Armenian Studies at Martin Luther University, Halle/Wittenberg.
Kovács has been the curator of three exhibitions: »Far away from Mount Ararat« (History Museum – BTM, Budapest, 2013); »The Tragedy of the Armenian People – The Armenian Genocide happened one Hundred Years ago« (National Széchényi Library, Budapest 2015) and »Unity and Variety: The Armenian Bible and Religious Tradition« (Hungarian National Library, Budapest 2019). In 2024, he was awarded an Honorary doctorate from the Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU), Yerevan for his outstanding research on Armenians in East-Central and Eastern Europe.
From 2008 to 2019, Bálint Kovács was Research Fellow at the GWZO in the research and publication project »Armenians in the Economy and Culture of East-Central Europe (14th–19th Centuries)«. Since 2023, he has been editor-in-chief of the GWZO series »Armenians in Eastern Europe«. Since 2025 he has been one of the Junior Research Group Leaders of the JRG »Global Armenia/ns. Entangled Histories of Central and Eastern Europe and the Caucasus«.
PI:
Lost-but-found: Armenian Capital Ani at Contested Crossroads“ (Gerda Henkel Stiftung).
Cataloguing and digitising the manuscripts and archives of the Transylvanian Armenian community of Gherla/Armenopolis and making an inventory of their early printed books (EAP1723) (British Library Endangered Archive Program) - https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP1723
Global Armenia/ns. Entangled Histories of Central and Eastern Europe and the Caucasus - https://www.leibniz-gwzo.de/en/research/research-departments/jrg-global-armenia-ns
Publications
Degrees
PhD, History, PPCU, 2010
university degree in History and in Religious Studies, PPCU, 2005
Positions
2016- Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Armenian and Southeastern-European/Regional History Studies, head of department
2014- Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, research fellow
2008- Leipzig University – East-Central Europe Centrum (Leibniz-Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Europa an der Universität Leipzig), research fellow
2005-2006, Archiepiscopal Library of Veszprém, librarian
Public scientific memberships
member of Society for Armenian Studies (SAS)
member of Association Internationale des Etudes Arméniennes (AIEA)
member of Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES)
member of public body of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Honours
2017, Ministerial acknowledgement for studying, teaching and spreading the Armenian culture in Europe (from the Minister of Culture of the Armenian Republic)
2013, Szongott Kristóf Award (from the Budapest Capital Armenian Self-Government)
Scientific conferences and exhibitions
2015, National Széchényi Library – National Library of Armenia, curator of “The Tragedy of the Armenian People – The Armenian Genocide happened one Hundred Years Ago” international exhibition
2013, Budapest History Museum – National Széchényi Library – GWZO Leipzig, curator of “Far Away from Mount Ararat – Armenian Culture in the Carpathian Basin” international exhibition
2013, National Széchényi Library – GWZO Leipzig, scientific secretary of “Dimensions of Cultural Transfer: Armenians in Central and Eastern Europe” international scientific exhibition
2011, GWZO Leipzig, scientific secretary of „Armenier in Wirtschaft, Kultur und Politik des östlichen Europa (1000-1900) – Jahrestagung des GWZO”
2007, PPCU, organizer of „Armenian Diaspora in Central-Europe” international scientific conference (with Dr. Sándor Őze)
2006, PPCU, organizer of “Armenian Diaspora in the Carpathian Basin II.” scientific conference (with Dr. Sándor Őze)
2005, PPCU, organizer of “Armenian Diaspora in the Carpathian Basin” scientific conference (with Dr. Sándor Őze)
References
Prof. Ronald Suny on Bálint Kovács
Interview with Bálint Kovács in Agos, the periodical of Armenians in Turkey
