BÁLINT SANDOR, ETHNOGRAPHER - 10 MAY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY

Saints celebrated on the 10th of May

VENERABLE BÁLINT SANDOR, ETHNOGRAPHER 

Venerable Bálint Sandor was born on August 1, 1904 and died on May 10, 1980. He completed his studies at Szeged University, then taught at the teacher-training institute from 1931 to 1947. He was a professor of ethnography at Szeged University from 1947 to 1951 and again from 1957 to 1966. (For political reasons, he was forbidden to teach between 1951 and 1956.) The leading subjects of his research were the folk culture of the Great Alfold area and the cultural history of the town of Szeged.

THE SZEGED DICTIONARY

His Szegedi szótár (1957; “Szeged Dictionary”) is an important document for the study of dialect and ethnography. His other publications include Szeged reneszánszkori mûveltsége (1975; “Szeged’s Renaissance Culture”). His four-volume work Szögedi nemzet: A szegedi nagytáj népélete (1976; “The Szöged Nation: Folk Culture of the Szeged Area”) is a comprehensive study.

CHURCH HISTORY AND RITUAL

His ethnographic monographs on church history and ritual include Népünk ünnepei: az egyházi év néprajza (1938; “Our Popular Religious Feasts: The Ethnography of the Church Calendar”), Az esztendõ néprajza (1942; “Ethnography of the Calendar”), Sacra Hungaria (1944; “Sacred Hungary”), Karácsony, húsvét, pünkösd (1974; “Christmas, Easter, Pentecost”), and the two-volume Ünnepi kalendárium (1977; “Calendar of Religious Feasts”). These works focus on the conventions of religious feasts, the role of vocabulary in preserving customs, and traditions regarding surnames. Búcsújáró magyarok (“Hungarian Pilgrims”), written with Barna Gábor, was published posthumously in 1994.

(Information from Encyclopedia Britannica -

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sandor-Balint)