Az Erzsébet Tudományegyetem ünnepi, tudományos és kulturális eseményei
Festive, Scientific and Cultural Events at the Elisabeth University

Summary/Abstract: The university calendar was full of festive occasions that broke up the daily routine of teaching and research. The ceremonial opening and closing of the academic year, the awarding of doctorates for successful work, the conferring of honorary doctorates on prominent patrons, etc., were all important events in the life of the community and provided a sense of belonging. The celebrations and the scientific and cultural events and programmes that went beyond the day-to-day teaching provided a meeting place for members of a wider university community, an opportunity to discuss individual and institutional achievements, a symbolic representation of the hierarchy between members, and a means of reinforcing the stability of the community. A special celebration was the Elisabeth Day on 19 November, the name day of the Queen of the same name, which also honoured the distinguished professors who had died in the previous year and the members of the community who had fallen during the First World War. The Association of the Friends of the Elisabeth University was founded in 1921 to provide the university with sponsorship and financial resources. The Elisabeth University tried to make the results of its research available not only to its students but also to the general public in various forms of educational lectures. Several university institutions organised such programmes: the most important were the University’s Scientific Association, the Ad Astra series of private lectures, the Cultural Days of the Institute for Minorities and the block lectures of the Maurinum. Between 1934 and 1947, the Elisabeth University organised the Keszthely Summer University, the aim of which was to acquaint young people from abroad with Hungarian cultural values and to enable Hungarian students to develop professional and personal contacts with students from partner institutions abroad. The main profile of the Summer University was the Pannonia Studies.

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