Abstract
István Papp passed away on 20 October 2023, only one month before his 92nd birthday. His death represents a significant loss to the Hungarian and international library community.
István embodied Hungarian and European history over the past almost 100 years. He was born during the Horthy regime, was a schoolboy during the Second World War and the extreme Szálasi period, finished his gymnasium education and then became a student during the Stalinist period. He completed his university studies shortly before and started work just after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He spent the greater part of his professional career during the more relaxed Kádár period and finished his professional life after the change in the political system in 1989.
During his professional career, amid shifting social and political circumstances, István held prominent positions in Hungarian librarianship and made decisive contributions to the development of public librarianship in the country. He served as the chief official of the library office in the Ministry of Culture, director of the library institute at the National Library of Hungary and, for the last 13 years of his career, deputy director general of the Fővárosi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár – the public library of Budapest – from 1985 until his retirement in 1998. He carried out these leadership roles with professional authority and competence, never compromising on his values and integrity. During the communist era, when offered a leading position, his consistent response was: ‘Yes, I can accept the position, but you must know that I will never join the Party.’
His tenure as deputy director general of the Budapest public library may have been one of the happiest and most fulfilling periods of his professional life. During this time, he was able to leverage all of his professional competence and creativity to transform a somewhat backward library system into an efficient, modern, user-friendly library network. Perhaps the crowning achievement of his legacy from this period is the restored central library in Budapest, the Wenckheim Palace, which opened its doors in 2001. Undoubtedly one of the most magnificent libraries in Europe, it seamlessly combines tradition and classical beauty with functionality and modern librarianship – a testament to István’s untiring work during his tenure as deputy director general.
István actively engaged in the international library organization IFLA. In 1974, he was elected as a member of the editorial board of IFLA Journal and later served as its head. He assumed prominent roles in both the IFLA Public Libraries Section and the IFLA Library Buildings and Equipment Section. In 1983, he received the IFLA Medal for his activities in this field. He also played a leading role in the Association of Hungarian Librarians, serving as a secretary from 1991 to 1994. Before this, he was a member of the central board. An important aspect of István’s international legacy is the BOBCATSSS conference, which originated in Budapest in 1993–1994 and is still held annually; it would not have materialized without his significant contributions.
István continued to contribute professionally even after his retirement. Among other things, he co-edited a series of handbooks on library science that are used in the education of new librarians in Hungary to this day. His significant work includes the code of ethics of Hungarian librarianship, published in 2006.
István was the most liberal, open-minded and unprejudiced man I have known. Not only did he embody history from the 1930s onwards, but he also embodied the fundamental values of liberalism and openness upon which democracy as well as librarianship are founded. We have lost a truly great librarian. Personally, I have lost a great friend and mentor. Our condolences and thoughts are with Adrienne, his wife, who steadfastly supported him from their marriage in 1959 up until his passing, as well as with his son, Dániel.
István Papp was truly a librarian for all seasons.