ANNALES HISTORICO-NATURALES MUSEI NATION A L I S H U N G A R I C I Tomus 62. 1970.
In Memóriám Dr. János Szunyoghy (1908-1969) B y G Y . T O P Á L , Budapest
Dr. J . SZUNYOGHY, the distinguished mammalogist, Deputy Director of the Zoological Department of the Hungarian Natural History Museum, passed away in his sixty-first year of life, after a protracted sickness, on 20 June, 1969. His departure is a great loss to Hungarian zoology and the Natural History Museum mourns for one of its most renowned scientist. JÁNOS SZUNYOGHY was born at Kisújszállás on 18 September, 1908. His mother was J U S T I N E POLGÁR, his father F A R K A S SZUNYOGHY, drawing instructor of the
woman teachers' school, whose artistic abilities he too inherited. He studied at the University of Sciences i n Budapest, receiving his teacher's diplom by majoring i n natural history and geography i n 1932. His interest and talents i n natural sciences were soon realized by our leading zoologists of that time, and G . FEJÉRVÁRY, professor of the University of Sciences at Pécs, invited him to be his assistant. However, FEJÉRVÁEY'S early and sudden death, one of the gravest tragedies af fecting SZUNYOGHY'S life for a long time to come, frustrated all his future plans. His doctoral thesis — one of his best works — on our home Colubrids and snake fossils was published i n the Swedish Acta Zoologica so that though receiving his doctor's degree in philosophy from Professor H A N K Ó of the University of Sciences at Debrecen i n 1933 he had no possibility to obtain a scientific post. From 1933 t i l l 1942, he worked as schoolmaster at Kecskemét. Nevertheless, he persisted i n continuing his zoological studies i n his spare time, but he changed from herpetology
to mammalogy. I n this period, he lectured frequently in the Zoological Section of the Hungarian Society of Natural Sciences. The threatening storm of World War I I broke also into his life. He was called up for military service in 1942, and by the intervention of Professor L . V A R G A he was assigned, as a teacher w i t h the rank of captain, to the Cadet School at Pécs. He read there geography, natural history, and topography. After a short captivity, he was again i n active military service in 1945, and beginning w i t h 1947 he lectured in the rank of major at the Kossuth Military Academy, leading a study group in topography and military geography. A t his own request, however, his commission was soon suspended, and then w as able to continue his pre-war teaching at Kecske mét, acting as primary school-inspector from 1 9 4 8 and as inspector of the natural sciences for the whole Comitat from October, 1 9 5 0 . A t the beginning of November, 1950, he was appointed to a museologist's post in the Hungarian Natural History Museum so that, after nearly two decades of thwarted ambitions, his scientific vocation—his most ardent wish—was finally on the way of realization. I n the Hungarian Natural History Museum, he set to work with incredible energy and enthusiasm in one of the biggest and museologically most problematic collections of the Zoological Department, namely the Mammalogical Collection, of which he soon became the Keeper. Under his leadership, the scientific material of the collection, having suffered but small losses as compared to several other ones during the conflagration in 1 9 5 6 , was nearly doubled in relation to its size after the first post-war years. Sparing no efforts he, too, participated in the extensive field work launched, beside the exploration of the faunistic conditions and distribution of our home mammalian fauna, mainly for the acquisition of as large a comparative material as possible. He saw i t quite clearly that without recourse to an adequately extensive material no further remarks can today be offered on even the simplest details of modern mammalogical problems. Fully aware of his responsibilities and in accordance w i t h his rugged and outspoken personality, he fought for the interests of his science and the collection entrusted to h i m and thus soon gained the respect and affection of his fellow workers and assistants. I n the last years of his life, he partook also i n the management of the Zoological Department, as Deputy Director and the Chief Keeper of all vertebrate collections. The major part of his scientific work was also done during the years spent in the Museum (cf. his Papers No. 11-61). He worked on several groups of the insecti vores, rodents, duphcidentates, ungulates, and carnivores. His contributions came from the fields of taxonomy, faunistics, anatomy and osteology, ecology and etho logy, and also the study of diseases spread by mammals. Some of them discussed also methodological problems. SZUNYOGHY studied also the history of introduction and settling of game in Hungary. His main results in this respect derive from researches made on the taxonomic, osteologic, hunting, etc. problems of the Hunga rian red deer, results utilisable also in applied zoology. He was especially interested in problems relating to the study of Hungarian sheep dogs, the osteological ex amination of horse skeletons from the Avar Period, and in many others which he had no more opportunity to elaborate. His papers contain many of his excellent illustra tions, drawings and figures which express w i t h complete scientific authenticity their creator's sharp vision, prominent sense of form and accuracy. He wrote all of his work w i t h utter absorption in the theme, and weighed carefully all sides of a problem before commencing to elucidate i t in writing. Beside the deleterious effects of the two averse decades wellnigh shunting his innate vocation and chosen object of life, i t must have been this very intensified responsibility, the boundless y
devotion to scientific t r u t h and factuality, his wish of an ever more consummate self-expression, and the continual consideration of a wide spectrum of problems, which had to a certain extent frittered away his energies, denying the time neces sary for the complete deliverance of his knowledge gained from so much work and based on such a rich experience. His scientific achievements are closely connected also w i t h his participation in the collecting and hunting expedition to Tanzania in 1 9 5 9 - 6 0 , sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, for the replacement of the specimens annihilated in 1956 in the Africa Exhibition of the Natural History Museum, as well as his independent one-year collecting t r i p some years later ( 1 9 6 5 - 6 6 ) also in Tanzania. During these voyages —as he wrote i n one of his books: " i n the world of my dreams"—he worked incessantly and w i t h indefatigable diligence to obtain, beside the animals intended for the future Africa Exhibition of the Museum, a possibly complete scientific collection of all representatives of the African mammals. And in this he was more than successful, since i t was for the first time during its 1 5 0 years of history that our Museum now received an unbelievably rich mammalian material — and from the hands of an expert collector ! Beside the mammals, SZTJNYOGHY also gathered also a most substantial insect and other invertebrate material; its evalua tion by specialists began already during his life. This collection enriched science by many new species, some of them dedicated to their collector. And he, too, bent himself to the task of working up the African mammals, principally from an osteological standpoint. During his two visits to the Museum of the Humboldt University in Berlin he was already working on the realization of this project, gathering, on the other hand, also further material for his big work on our home antlered game. Fate, however, decreed otherwise — and many of his ma nuscripts remain unfinished, for the great loss of zoology and especially mam malogy. In 1962, SZTJNYOGHY qualified for the degree of candidate i n the biological sciences i n the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He also directed, to the date of his death, the work of the Section CT since Hungary joined the International Bio logical Program. I n 1 9 6 4 , he was decorated with the Silver Medal, Order of Work, conferred by the government in recognition of his scientific and museological work, and in 1966 he was appointed titular professor of the University. As a scientist endowed also w i t h excellent pedagogical abilities, Dr. J . SZTJ NYOGHY was singularly active in the planning and the execution of exhibitions by the Natural History Museum and of many other natural history displays in H u n gary. We see i t all too clearly today that his departure from also this field is an irreparable loss to our Museum. Beside his scientific papers, he published nearly 5 0 essays, communications, and articles addressed to the general public. His, book on his African voyages, his lectures in television and his many public appear ances—when he spoke in an animated and racy Hungarian diction—made his name well-known, and through him also the work done i n the Natural History Museum. His merits are t r u l y imperishable in the spreading among the greater public of the results of modern zoology, a better cognizance of the world of animals, and a cultured attitude towards natural history. He loved nature and explored her truths passionately. I t was w i t h the same ardour that he tought and educated so many. The great breaks in his career may have made h i m more reserved and sensitive than the average man, but whoever had the luck to have been on intimate terms with him had come to know a warm hearted, well-wishing, unselfish individual. He will live forever in the memory of T
his students, friends, and colleagues, and by his work he had indelibly written his name into the annals of zoology. Scientific publications of Dr. J . Szunyoghy. 1. (1932) Beiträge zur vergleichenden Formenlehre des Colubridenschädels, nebst einer kraniologischen Synopsis der fossilen Schlangen Ungarns. — Acta Zool. Stockholm, 13, p. 1-56. 2. (1937) Egy új Spalax Erdélyből. — Ein neuer Spalax aus Siebenbürgen. — A l lait. Közlemények, 34, p. 185-191. 3. (1936-37) Adatok a puli (Canis ovilis villosus hungaricus Raits.) fejvázának isme retéhez. (Data to the knowledge of the skull of the Hungarian Sheep Dog) . — Kecskeméti Ref. Gimn. Értesítője, p. 16-22. 4. (1939) K r i t i k der Artberechtigung von Spalax Labaumei Matschie. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., 32, p. 106-113. 5. (1940) A puli tudománya. (What the Sheep Dog knows). — Term. Tud. Közlöny. 72, p. 225-235. 6. (1940) A magyar földikutya anatómiája. Törzs és végtagok csontjai. — Anatomie des Spalax hungaricus hungaricus Nhrg. Knochen des Rumpfes und der Glied massen. — Kecskeméti Ref. Gimn. Évkönyve, p. 1-30. 7. (1941) K é t új földikutya Kisázsiából. — Zwei neue Blindmäuse aus Kleinasien. — Állatt. Közlemények, 38, p. 78-86. 8. (1941) A vándorpatkány anatómiája I . A törzs váza. — Die Anatomie der Wanderratte (Mus norvegicus Erxl.). I . Rumpfskelett. — Állatt. Közlemények, 38, p. 184-197. 9. (1942) A pusztai görény (Putorius Eversmanni Less.) Magyarországon. — Über das Vorkommen des Steppeniltisses (Putorius Eversmanni Less.) i n Ungarn. — Állatt. Közlemények, 39, p. 124-130. 10. (1943) A vándor p a t k á n y anatómiája I L Szabad végtagok váza. — Die Anatomie der Wanderratte (Mus norvegicus Erxl.). I L Das Skelett der freien Gliedmassen. - Állatt. Közlemények 40, p. 22-35. 11. (1952) The effect of castration on the skull of the Domestic Cat, and the estab lishment of differentiating characters on the skulls of the Domestic Cat and the Wild Cat. - Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., (Ser. nov.), 2, p. 177-181. 12. (1952) The Harvest Mouse in Hungary. Part I . — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., (Ser. nov.) 3, p. 245-249. 13. (1953) Szülést megkönnyítő módosulás a Spalax hungaricus hungaricus Nhrg. medencéjén. — Eine geburtenerleichternde Veränderung am Becken von Spalax hungaricus hungaricus Nhrg. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., (Ser. nov.) 4, p. 227-230. 14. (1954) Adatok a Microtus oeconomus méhelyi Éhik elterjedésének, halló- és peniscsontjának ismeretéhez. — Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Verbreitung, sowie der Gehörknöchelchen und des Penisknochens von Microtus oeconomus méhelyi Éhik. - Állatt. Közlemények, 44, p. 225-230. 15. (1954) Milyen állatot neveztek eredetileg a „pegymet" szóval? — What animal was originally meant by the word "Pegymet"? — Állatt. Közlemények, 44, p. 99-102. 16. (1954) Az Ablepharus kitaibeli kitaibeli Bibron & Bory új lelőhelye Magyar országon. — New^ occurence of the Ablepharus kitaibeli kitaibeli Bibron & Bory in Hungary. — Állatt. Közlemények, 44, p. 61-62. 17. (1955) Kisemlős gyűjtés. — Sammeln von Kleinsäugetieren. — Állatt. Közle mények, 45, p. 131-138. 18. (1955) Á magyarországi haemorrhagiás nephroso-nephritis kutatásával kapcso latos emlősgyűjtés és annak értékelése. — (See No. 19!). — Katonaorvosi Szemle, 7, p. 457-470. 19. (1955) A preliminary notice concerning the collecting of mammals, i n connection with the researches on the disease nephroso-nephritis haemorrhagica in Hun gary. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., (Ser. nov.), 4, p. 387-390. 1
1
In cases where the original paper had no summary i n a foreign language, an exact translation of the original title is hereby given i n parentheses.
20. (1956) Hazataláló képesség vizsgálata a kisemlősöknél. — Homing experiments on small mammals. I . — Állatt. Közlemények, 45, p. 143-147. 21. (1957) Systematische Revision des ungarländischen Schakals, gleichzeitig eine Bemerkung über das Rohrwolf-Problem. — A n n . Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung.,. (Ser. nov.), 8, p. 425-432. 22. (1957) H o l volt és hol van üregi nyúl? (Where was and where is the Rabbit?). — Magyar Vadász, 10, (6. szám), p. 13. 23. (1958) Az üregi nyúl elterjedése Magyarországon. (The distribution of the Rabbit in Hungary.) — Magyar Vadász, 11, (7. szám), p. 16-17. 24. (1958) Adalékok a magyarországi muflonok ismeretéhez. (Data to the knowledge of the Mouflon in Hungary.) — Magyar Vadász, 11, (8. szám), p. 10-11. 25. (1958) Adatok a magyarországi muflonok telepítésének történetéhez. (Data to the history of introducing the Mouflon to Hungary.) — Magyar Vadász, 11,. (9. szám), p. 8-9. 26. (1958) Az üregi nyúl honosításának története Magyarországon. (The history of introducing the Rabbit to Hungary.) — Magyar Vadász, 11, (11. szám), p. 6-8. 27. (1958) Emlős és madár bőrök kikészítése tudományos gyűjtemények számára. — Die Präparierung von Bälgen der Säugetiere und Vögel für wissenschaftliche Sammlungen. — Állatt. Közlemények, 46, p. 287-296. 28. (1958) A preliminary report on the seasonal changes of the hair-color of the Harvest Mice and its taxonomical importance. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., (Ser. nov.), 9, p. 343-347. 29. (1958) The introduction and distribution of the Rabbit in Hungary. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., (Ser. nov.), 9, p. 349-358. 30. (1959) The variability of the branch numbers of stag antlers in the Carpathian Basin. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., 51, p. 489-492. 31. (1959) Data to our knowledge concerning the body weights of stags in the Car pathian Basin. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., 51, p. 483-488. 32. (1959) Bírálat Nagy Jenő „Berechtigung zur Szunyoghys Systematische Revision des ungarländischen Schakals, gleichtzeitig eine Bemerkung über das RohrwolfProblem" című dolgozatáról. — K r i t i k über den Aufsatz von E. Nagy betreffend „Berichtigung zur Szunyoghys Systematische Revision des ungarländischen Schakals, gleichzeitig eine Bemerkung über das Rohrwolf-Problem". — Vertebr. Hung., 1, p. 209-214. 33. (1959) A nádifarkas. - Der Rohrwolf. - Vertebr. Hung., 1, p. 73-88. 34. (1959) Adatok a magyar szarvasbikák testsúlyának ismeretéhez. (Data to the knowledge of the body weight of Hungarian stags.) — Magyar Vadász, 12,,(1. szám), p. 5-6. 35. (1959) Adatok a magyar szarvasbikák agancság számának változékonyságához. (Data to the variability of the number of antler branches of Hungarian stags). — Magyar Vadász, 12, (2. szám), p. 4-5. 36. (1959) Adatok a magyar szarvasbikák agancssúlyának ismeretéhez. (Data to the knowledge of the antler weight of Hungarian stags.) — Magyar Vadász, 12, (3. szám), p. 6-7. 37. (1959) Híres magyar szarvasagancsok 1. Szálkai agancs. (Famous Red Deer antlers from Hungary 1. The antler from Szálka.) — Magyar Vadász, 12, (4. szám), p. 8-9. 38. (1959) Híres szarvasagancsok 2. Hőgyészi agancs, 3. Vrpoljei agancs. (Famous Red Deer antlers 2. The antler from Hőgyész, 3. The antler from Vrpolje.) — Magyar Vadász, 12, (5. szám), p. 16-17. 39. (1960) Az Ovis musimon Pall, honosítása, jelenlegi elterjedése Magyarországon, egyben az Ovis musimon sinesella Turcek alfaj bírálata. — Acclimatization and present spreading of Ovis musimon Pall, in Hungary, including an evaluation of the subspecies Ovis musimon sinesella Turcek. — Állatt. Közlemények, 47, p. 179-189. 40. (1960) Rövid tájékoztató az afrikai vadász és gyűjtő expedícióról. — Kurzer Informationsbericht über die afrikanische Jagd- und Sammeisexpedition. — Vertebr. Hung., 2, p. 103-107. 41. (1960) A review: N . Atanassov: Der Fuchs (Vulpes vulpes crucigera Bechstein) in Bulgarien. Morphologia, Biológia und wirtschaftliche Bedeutung. — Állatt. Közlemények, 47, p. 212.
42. (1960) A review: N. Atanassov: Untersuchungen über die Schakale (Canis aureus L.) in Bulgarien. — Állatt. Közlemények, 47, p. 213. 43. (1961) Bemerkungen zu dem Aufsätze von E. Nagy „Berichtigung zu Szunyoghy: Systematische Revision des ungarländischen Schakals, gleichzeitig eine Bemer kung über das Rohrwolf-Problcm". — Säugetierk. Mitteil., 9, p. 4-6. 44. (1961) Kritische Bemerkungen zur Beschreibung des Ovis musimon sinesella Turcek, 1949. - Säugetierk. Mitteil., 9, p. 6-8. 45. (1961) Beitrage zur Kenntnis des Schädclgewichtes und Hirnschädelkapazität des ungarischen Hirsches. — Vertebr. Hung., 3, p. 105-118. 46. (1961) The scientific results of the First Hungarian Zoological Expedition to East Africa. Preliminary report. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., 53, p. 255-257. 47. (1962) A tanganyikai gyűjtő és vadász expedíción végzett munkám. — Report on the Hunting and Collecting Expedition to Tanganyika and work performed there. - Állatt. Közlemények, 49, p. 119-130. 48. (1962) A magyarországi és norvégiai szarvasok koponyaméreteinek összehason lító allometriás vizsgálata. — Vergleichende allometrische Untersuchungen der Schädelmasse der ungarländischen und norwegischen Rotwilde. — Vertebr. Hung., 4, p. 93-140. 49. (1962) Allometrische Untersuchungen an den Schädeln von Rotwild in Ungarn. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., 54, p. 505-519. 50. (1963) Egy új emlős megjelenése Magyarországon. — Ein neues Säugetier in Ungarn. — Állatt. Közlemények, 50, p. 175-179. 51. (1963) A magyarországi szarvas. — Das ungarische Rotwild. — Budapest, pp. 193. •52. (1963) 4000 éves szarvasagancsok Magyarországon. (4000 year old Red Deer antlers from Hungary.) — Magyar Vadász, 16, p. 16-17. •53. (1964) A szarvas orrbagócs légy jelentősége. (The importance of the Deer Bot Fly.) — Magyar Vadász, 17, p. 17-18. -54. (1964) Az emlősök élőhelyének nagysága és ahhoz való ragaszkodásuk. (The habitat size of mammals and their adherence to it.) — Élővilág, 9, (1. szám), p. 30-35. 55. (1965) Rothirschgeweihe und Extremitätenknochen aus der Kupferzeit in der Torfgräberei von Nádasdladány. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., 57, p. 477-479. 56. (1965) Anordnung der Haare von Spalax leucodon Nordm. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., 57, p. 483. 57. (1966) Gerincesek — Verebrata, Általános bevezetés, in Magyarország Állat világa, Fauna Hungáriáé. 20, (1. füzet), pp. 14. 58. (1967) The scientific results of Hungarian Zoological Expeditions to Tanganyika. 8. A general report on the third expedition. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., 59, p. 211-215. 59. (1967) The scientific results of Hungarian Zoological Expeditions to Tanganyika. 10. The big game material and their more important measurement data of the first and second expeditions. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., 59, p. 427-433. GO. (1967) The scientific results of Hungarian Zoological Expeditions to Tanganyika. 11. Data to the body measurements of East African big game on the basis of material collected during the third expedition. — Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., 59, p. 435-441. 61. (in print) Rovarevők — Insectivora, in Magyarország Állatvilága, Fauna Hun gáriáé. 22, (1. füzet).
