János Szirmai

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János Szirmai (born 1925 in Keť , Nitriansky kraj , Czechoslovakia ; died December 2, 2014 in Arnhem ) was a Hungarian-Dutch bookbinder and binding researcher .

Life

János Alexander Szirmai's father Ján Sulimanec changed his name to the Hungarian Szirmai while studying at the seminary in Banská Bystrica (German. Neusohl, Hungarian Besztercebánya). During the First World War he fell in love with the nun Helena Francisca Concha (also from Banská Bystrica), married her, and since he could no longer work as a Catholic priest, he changed his religion and was from the beginning of the 20s as pastor of Hungarian Reformed Church active in the Hungarian village of Keť (in Hungarian Érsekkéty) in southern Slovakia. Ján Alexander was born there in 1925 as his second child. During the Second World War, Ján Alexander began to study art in Bucharest in 1942 and switched to medicine in Budapest and Bratislava in 1943. During the time of the German occupation of Hungary from March 1944 , he helped Budapest Jews, among them the family of the medical student Éva Fischer , to evade the access of the Eichmann Command and his Hungarian helpers by making his drawing talent available for forging ID cards . He fled the Eastern Bloc in 1947 and continued studying medicine in the Netherlands in 1951. He embarked on a career as a doctor and also worked as a university lecturer at the University of Leiden and the University of Rotterdam .

Coptic Psalter, 8th century, goatskin binding. Described by Szirmai.

Szirmai was passionate about various artistic and craft techniques such as bookbinding, calligraphy, typography and goldsmithing, and in 1971 gave up the medical profession entirely. He learned the art of book with Martin Jaegle at the Centro del bel libro in Ascona .

In 1975 he received the “Prix Paul Bonnet” award for his design and craftsmanship, and his artistic bindings have been shown in numerous international exhibitions. In 1984 he published a catalog of his book design work as part of an exhibition in the University Library in Amsterdam . In 1986 he was awarded the “Prix international de reliure d'art Germaine de Coster”. In 1987 he received the Tiele chair for a visiting professorship at the University of Amsterdam . He held courses and lectures in specialist committees and supervised diploma theses on historical binding forms. Szirmai published in numerous specialist journals (Magnus , Quaerendo , Bindereport , The New Bookbinder) and in 1992 contributed to the development of a terminology in Kneep & Binding . His main work The Archeology of Medieval Bookbinding , in which he also brought out his drawing talent, came out in 1999 and developed into the standard work for historical binding techniques. Together with his wife Mia, Szirmai ran a small art bookbindery in Oosterbeek for many years .

Szirmai was honored as Righteous Among the Nations in 2006.

Fonts (selection)

  • The archeology of medieval bookbinding . Ashgate, Aldershot 1999, ISBN 0-85967-904-7 .
  • with Kees Gnirrep; Johan Peter Gumbert: Kneep en binding: a terminology for the description of the construction of the book . Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague 1992, ISBN 90-625-9096-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Magdolna Hargittai: Women Scientists: Reflections, Challenges, and Breaking Boundaries . Oxford University Press, 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-935998-1 , p. 44.
  2. ^ Righteous Among the Nations Honored by Yad Vashem on January 1, 2016. Hungary

Lit .:

Szabó Antal: A Szlovákiai Református Keresztény Egyház története. Regio 1990. 3. sz. 133-162., 4th sz. 204-221. < http://www.regiofolyoirat.hu/newspaper/1990/3/09%20Szabo_Antal.doc > < http://www.regiofolyoirat.hu/newspaper/1990/4/14%20Szabo_Antal.doc >

Thijn, Ed van, 1934-: Judica, Judy / Ed van Thijn. - Amsterdam [u. a.]: Uitg. Augustus, 2006. - 126 pages: Ill. ISBN 978-90-457-0076-2

Kocman, Jiří H .: Prof. Dr. JASzirmai - lékař, vědec a knihař. - In: Umění a řemesla, č.3, pp.74-77, 2000

Kocman, Jiří H .: Prof. Dr. JASzirmai - pětasedmdesát let ušlechtilého života. - In: Knihařský bulletin, č.4, 2000

personal data
SURNAME Szirmai, János
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Szirmai, János Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian-Dutch bookbinder and binding researcher
DATE OF BIRTH 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Keť , Czechoslovakia
DATE OF DEATH 2nd December 2014
Place of death Arnhem