János Lukács was born on January 31, 1924. Few automobiles roamed the streets of Budapest at this time. The contemporary political and economic elite lived at the outer areas of Andrássy Street. The country got caught between the borders determined by the tragic Trianon Treaty of 1920, while a part of the nation was excluded from these borders. By then Charles IV. the last apostolic Hungarian king and Austrian emperor has passed, as have István Tisza and Endre Ady, the great Hungarian poet. What is more, Lenin, the founder of bolshevism passed away (just 10 days before the birth of John Lukacs). The Hungarian nation was over the Great War, the consequential Spanish flu epidemic, the revolution and the red terror – two ideological and spiritual pandemics with grave consequences. The compulsive endurance slowly evolved from the temporality in the midst of disheveled political circumstances and financial crises– people wanted to live and got on in life, they took and raised children.
János Lukács was born in this era, and started to develop himself to the personality we know today. His mother's critical approach and anglophilia heavily influenced his life and visions, which later determined the direction of his path. The young Lukács attended catholic school, knew and respected the French as well as the German culture, but the British conservative tradition was closest to him. After surviving the world war as a young man, he realized very soon, that the future would be hopeless for his civil, moral- or performance-based meritocratic values. He went to Great Britain and then to Pennsylvania, where he has been living for 72 years now. Even if we mention him worthily among the greatest based on his talent, and even if he taught at Princeton, at Johns Hopkins University, at the Columbia University, and at many other universities as a visiting professor, after all he kept teaching at Chestnut Hill Women Collage until his retirement in 1994. He owns his reputation to his historical writings. His books, like 'The Duel', 'The Hitler of History', 'The Last European War: September 1939–December 1941', and 'The End of the Twentieth Century and the End of the Modern Age' are compulsory readings for historians of the modern age. However, his most notable writing is about historic consciousness. In this essay on philosophy of history he outlines the functioning of historical thought, in which he deduces the importance of man and (debating Collingwood's opinions) questions the statements of fact-based history. Emphasizing the priority of narratives, Lukács anticipated Hayden White and discussed Braudel for being lost in details.
However, not just his writings on history are very important, because in these Christian and humanistic thinking is more palpable, defining János Lukács, the man. A placid, but strong-minded, emphatic, as well as consistent scholar, focusing on humanity's relationship with the Universe, and Christ's historicism, the ex-chairman of the American Catholic Historical Association is able to reflect himself as well as new age populism that threatens democracy. His conviction is that the most significant power influencing history is the historic dimension thinking, which is presented in 'A Thread of Years'. In this work he illustrates the characteristic way of thinking of the era through fictitious situations in literary style. He is generally characterized by an interest toward intellectual history. Not only do his views represent a historical palette but also the philosophical dimension (his correspondence with Heisenberg and the research of Tocqueville refer to this). Lukács is also interested in his original homeland. He deeply and frequently researched modern Hungarian history. His conservative reactionary, catholic conviction was warmly welcomed at the Hungarian catholic university: in 2009, the university offered him an honorary doctorate. Pázmány Péter Catholic University wishes all the best to the most famous Hungarian historian, celebrating his 95th birthday.
Dr. Máté Botos
Head of the Department of Political Science
