György Kara (born György Katulics, 23 June 1935 – 16 April 2022) was a Hungarian orientalist, philologist, and specialist in Mongol studies and Mongolian philology.

Biography

György Kara came from a working class family in Hungary. For his undergraduate education he studied at

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...

(ELTE) in Budapest under Gyula Németh, Barnabás Csongor, and

Lajos Ligeti Lajos Ligeti (28 October 1902 – 24 May 1987) was a Hungarian orientalist and philologist, who specialized in Mongolian and Turkic languages. Ligeti was born in Balassagyarmat in 1902. After completing his secondary studies in his native t ...

. The latter professor insisted that his students use Hungarian or Altaic surnames, so György's adopted surname became

Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in ...

, the Turco-Mongol word for "Black", thereafter being known as György Kara or Khar Dorj ( or ) in Mongolia. Visiting

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

in 1957 for fieldwork and graduating in 1958, he continued his research under Ligeti, with a university doctorate from ELTE in 1961, a Candidacy in Linguistic Science from the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...

in 1967, and a Doctorate of Philological Sciences from

Leningrad State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

in 1975. He joined the ELTE faculty in 1958 and was promoted to professor in 1978, during which time he served under various positions at the Hungarian Academy and his university. In 1986 and 1988 he was invited as a visiting professor at the Central Eurasian Studies Department of

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

, and soon after in 1992 received tenure as a full professor with the fall of the Eastern Bloc, though he continued teaching at ELTE. Kara settled permanently in Bloomington in 2005, and continued teaching and research until his passing, with his later research devoted to reference books in the English language.

Personal life

György Kara's first wife was the daughter of noted Mongolian scholar

Byambyn Rinchen Byambyn Rinchen (; 21 November 1905 – 4 March 1977), also known as Rinchen Bimbayev (), was a Mongolian scholar and writer. He was a researcher of Mongolia's language, literature, and history, and a recorder and preserver of the country's cult ...

, Rinchenii Shinzaa (−1999). Married in 1958, they had a son and daughter. Kara remarried to Mongolist Marta Kiripolská in 2003.

References

1935 births 2022 deaths Hungarian orientalists Hungarian philologists Mongolists Indiana University Bloomington faculty Eötvös Loránd University alumni {{DEFAULTSORT:Kara, György Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences