150 years ago, a passionate explorer of the flora of the Bakony region and Győr County was born
On December 13, 1876, Dr Sándor Polgár, one of the influential botanists of his time and a legendary teacher at the Győr Secondary Technical School (now the Miklós Révai Grammar School), was born. His work remains an important reference in Hungarian botany to this day.
In his honor, a commemorative plaque — a splendid tile portrait by Győr-based artist József Péter Sándor — was unveiled on the facade of his former residence at 4 Bisinger Promenade on October 22 during a ceremonial event. Despite the cold, windswept weather, numerous guests and high school students attended the event.
Dr Dávid Schmidt, an assistant professor at the University of Sopron, welcomed the guests. Schmidt is a tireless researcher of the life and professional career of Dr Sándor Polgár, who never allowed this outstanding teacher and researcher to be forgotten.
He was followed by Péter Horváth, principal of Révai Grammar School, who outlined the extraordinary power with which Dr. Polgár was able to inspire his pupils. In addition to theory, he involved them in a wide range of hands-on activities and organized countless educational field trips for them. He instilled in his student, Bálint Zólyomi, a lifelong passion for botany; Zólyomi later became a renowned academician and university professor.
His granddaughter also paid tribute to him
Next, his granddaughter, Anna Menzl, a Holocaust survivor, shared her thoughts. As she explained, she has no personal memories of her grandad, since she was only two years old when the Jews were deported in June 1944. What she knows about him she heard from her mother, family members who survived, and her grandfather’s students and colleagues. Without exception, everyone spoke of him with great respect, and those who knew him had deep affection for him. “I loved my grandfather. His touch existed only in my imagination, which was coupled with the pain and bitterness of knowing this remarkable man only through others,” she revealed. She explained that, beyond his main areas of focus, his wide-ranging interests extended to literature, philosophy, and music. In addition to Latin, he spoke French and German fluently. Dr Sándor Polgár, like his entire family, confessed to being a true Hungarian.
In addition to paying his respects to the distinguished botanist, Member of Parliament András Néher noted that the history of the Hungarian people has been shaped by diverse family traditions, religions, and life journeys. The city’s past will forever include all those who educated and worked here, and who considered Győr their home. “Sándor Polgár was indeed Jewish and lived as a Hungarian. That is what matters most to us! Here in Hungary, we are all Hungarians and we form one community,” he declared.
One of the day’s highlights was the planting of a Polgár-rowan sapling (Sorbus polgariana) in Honvéd Park, in front of the Miklós Révai High School. This tree species, named after him, is endemic to Hungary, protected by law, and belongs to the Rosaceae family.
Commemorative session
The day’s closing activity was a commemorative session held at Dr. Sándor Polgár’s former workplace, where he taught biology and chemistry for 35 years. At first, the audience listened to Réka Vinczi recite her poem ‘Late October Whisper’, written in honor of the scientist.
Dr. Dávid Schmidt then gave a lecture titled “Dr. Sándor Polgár was born 150 years ago.” Using numerous contemporary photographs, he traced the teacher’s life and his many professional achievements. As a passionate educator, Dr. Polgár delivered captivating, insightful lessons while also organizing school field trips and self-study groups. He took special care of talented students; he also served as the school’s chronicler, treasurer, and developer of the science collections. He was a prolific contributor to the journal ‘Secondary School Bulletins’ (Reáliskolai Értesítők). Whenever there was a demand, he gladly gave free lessons at other schools in Győr or for various organizations. “We can rightly call him a meticulously diligent researcher,” Schmidt declared with a touch of pathos, then immediately explained why he thinks so: “There are more than twenty thousand pressed plant specimens that enrich the herbarium of the Natural History Museum in Budapest, thanks to his collections.” He described 52 imported species of plants that were never seen in Hungary before. He authored several publications on the botanical world of the region. His most important work, ‘The Flora of Győr County’, was published in 1941, during the period of systematic persecution of Jews. His reputation is attested to by the fact that, despite these dark times, it was published “with the support of the Free Royal City of Győr”. In 1955, the prominent botanist Ádám Boros praised his work as follows: “…the most complete botanical monograph ever written on Hungarian soil.”
The meeting concluded with a presentation by Péter Kovács, a teacher and the head of the LocArt Environmental Engineering Office. He spoke about the natural features of Győr and its surroundings in light of Polgár’s work, noting that these should deserve much more attention — as is already the case in many parts of Győr-Moson-Sopron County.
Tragic Death
In 1944, Dr. Sándor Polgár’s friends — leading personalities in Hungarian botany at the time — jointly submitted a petition to the Minister of Religion and Public Education asking that he be spared, but to no avail. In April 1944, the Arrow Cross Party forced him, along with the city’s other Jewish citizens, into the ghetto on Győr Island. On June 11, he was deported to Auschwitz, where, upon arrival on June 16, this researcher and teacher — who deeply loved his homeland, his students, and science — was murdered in a gas chamber. He was 67 years old.
May his memory be a blessing! — זיכרונו לברכה (Zikhrono livrakha!)
By György Polgár