Oláh-Gál Róbert: Bolyai-sommázat
Oláh-Gál Róbert: Bolyai summary

Summary/Abstract: UNESCO declared the year 2023 as the Bolyai Memorial Year on the occasion of the 200th anniversary, on November 3, 2023, of the famous letter written by János Bolyai to his father in Timișoara, in which he informed him that he had “created a new, different world out of nothing.” According to Oláh-Gál Róbert, “The Bolyai-Summary is not a traditional Bolyai biography, nor a volume presenting the works of the Bolyais, but rather a selection of writings with which I believe I have contributed to sharpening and clarifying the image we have of the Bolyais, as well as correcting certain erroneous biographical details.” (p. 354) What brings novelty to the book, compared to previous biographies, is that the story of the Bolyai family is presented from a new perspective. A very important part of the book is the Bolyai Chronology, which details, even day by day, where and when the Bolyais were, and what happened to them over nearly a century, from 1768 to 1860. The author contributed to Bolyai research through thirty years of archival study. We gain insight into both their family life and their correspondence with contemporary scholars. Among other things, we learn why Farkas Bolyai didn’t send his son to study in Göttingen—because he changed his mind and saw the family’s financial advancement more secure if János became a military engineer or at least an officer. We also learn more about János Bolyai’s children and his relationship with the city of Târgu Mureș (Marosvásárhely).

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