La Memoria del Mundo

La UNESCO puso en marcha en 1997 el Programa de la Memoria del Mundo que, a semejanza del Patrimonio Mundial donde se registran los monumentos que deben preservarse como herencia de la humanidad, recoge aquellos documentos que constituyen nuestra memoria insoslayable y deben ser conservados en archivos y bibliotecas. Esta lista suma 158 entradas, con joyas como las tablillas cuneiformes hititas, la Biblia de Gutenberg, la Colección Linneo o los manuscritos de Chopin.

Acabamos de saber que el comité del Programa de la Memoria del Mundo, en su reunión anual que tuvo lugar hace seis días, añadió treinta y cinco nuevos elementos a su registro. Y que han entrado dos procedentes de Hungría: el legado del fundador de los estudios tibetanos, Alexander Csoma de Körös, que se guarda en la Colección Oriental de la Academia Húngara de Ciencias, y el Appendix (1832) de János Bolyai, que registra el nacimiento de la geometría no euclideana. Es un gran honor para nosotros que la documentación web de ambos ítems fuera preparada por Studiolum a partir de los materiales de la Academia Húngara de Ciencias y en colaboración con los colegas de la Academia, presentándola en húngaro, inglés y español.


Alexander Csoma de Körös salió en 1842 de Calcuta hacia Lhasa buscando las presuntas fuentes históricas de los antiguos húngaros en la biblioteca de los Dalai Lamas. Durante los veinte años anteriores se había preparado concienzudamente para este viaje. Viviendo en los monasterios de los lamas del «Tibet indio» aprendió su lengua y su religión, compuso luego el primero de los diccionarios tibetanos y la primera gramática de esta lengua (1834) y dio una descripción tan detallada de la religión budista y del canon literario, por entonces solo vagamente conocido en Europa, que tras él apenas hubo nada esencial que añadir. Sin embargo, nunca llegó a Lhasa. De camino, enfermó de malaria y murió en Darjeeling.

Antes de abandonar Calcuta, sospechando que quizá no volvería nunca, entregó todos sus libros a su discípulo S. C. Malan, secretario de la Sociedad Asiática de Bengala. Malan los pasó a Tivadar Duka, un médico húngaro que, tras el colapso de la guerra de independencia de Hungría, en 1849, había emigrado a Gran Bretaña y viajado luego a India como oficial médico del Ejército Británico. Allí, impresionado por el destino de su compatriota, fue recogiendo toda la información que pudo sobre él. Escribió la primera biografía en inglés y húngaro de Csoma, y en 1885 donó sus libros a la Academia Húngara de Ciencias. Entre los treinta y seis códices tibetanos de Csoma, los más valiosos son los conocidos como «Libros de Alexander». En ellos los lamas dan detallada respuesta a las preguntas que Csoma les hacía sobre muy variados asuntos –filosofía, religión, medicina, astronomía–. Están escritos en forma de preguntas y respuestas y son documentos excepcionales de uno de los primeros contactos serios entre el pensamiento europeo y el tibetano.

En la documentación web del legado de Csoma publicamos por primera vez el facsímil, la transcripción y la traducción de uno de estos Libros de Alexander, el códice número 4 sobre cosmología budista tibetana, y tenemos intención de continuar más adelante con la publicación de los demás volúmenes. La documentación también incluye una completa biografía de Csoma, la descripción de su legado, la biografía de Duka y sus dos biografías de Csoma, así como una presentación abundantemente ilustrada de la «Colección Tibetana» de la Academia Húngara de Ciencias.


El web dedicado al Appendix de János Bolyai contiene la documentación de la conexión y el legado de dos matemáticos geniales, padre e hijo, Farkas y János Bolyai, compilada con extremo cuidado por Károly Horányi y Béla Mázi, del Departamento de Manuscritos de la LHAS. Las páginas incluyen la biografía más actualizada hasta hoy de János Bolyai, basada en fuentes recién descubiertas y nuevas publicaciones, y ofrece por primera vez facsímiles de cartas relevantes de ambos Bolyai. Se puede ver completo el ejemplar del Appendix conservado en la LHAS, en el que se hallan importantes notas manuscritas añadidas por el propio János Bolyai. La documentación también presenta minuciosamente el material completo de la exposición organizada en 2002 por el 200 aniversario del nacimiento de Bolyai, los avatares de la recepción europea de la geometría no euclideana, así como la historia del Premio Internacional Bolyai, establecido a fines del siglo XIX en memoria del gran investigador.


Y mientras contempláis estas páginas, podéis también dar una vuelta por las otras webs preparadas por Studiolum en colaboración con la Academia Húngara de Ciencias. La exposición de Hongkong sobre el legado fotográfico de las expediciones de Aurel Stein a Asia Central, asunto del que hemos escrito ya en Río Wang. La Exposición Stein, organizada con motivo del centenario del descubrimiento de la famosa gruta biblioteca de Dunhuang. La excepcionalmente rica colección de códices hebreos medievales de Dávid Kaufmann, de quien también hemos dado noticias aquí y aquí. El album amicorum de Franciscus Pariz Papai, que contiene notas autógrafas de personalidades de la talla de Isaac Newton o Edmund Halley. La Corvina del siglo XV, del humanista italiano Ludovicus Carbo, compuesta sobre las gloriosas hazañas de Matías Corvino, rey de Hungría, con el facsímil, su transcripción y traducción. Las páginas dedicadas al conde József Teleki, fundador de la biblioteca de la Academia… Dentro de unos meses publicaremos el legado del gran poeta húngaro Miklós Radnóti, asesinado en 1944. Y esperamos que la serie continúe.

Memory of the World

The UNESCO started in 1997 the Memory of the World Program which, similarly to the World Heritage program registering the world’s built heritage, inscribes in its list the documentary heritage of the world, that is the most valuable archive holdings and library collections. The list contained thus far 158 items, including such treasures like the Hittite cuneiform tablets, the Gutenberg Bible, the Linné Collection or Chopin’s collected manuscripts.

We have just got news that the Committee of the Memory of the World project on its yearly meeting held four days ago has inscribed thirty-five new items in its register. These include two Hungarian ones: the legacy of the founder of Tibetan studies Alexander Csoma of Körös, preserved in the Oriental Collection of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and the 1832 Appendix of János Bolyai, which laid the foundations of non-Euclidean geometry. It is a great honor to us that the web documentation of both items were prepared by Studiolum from the materials of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and in collaboration with the Academy’s colleagues, in Hungarian, English and Spanish version.


Alexander Csoma de Körös in 1842 left Calcutta for Lhasa to look for eventual sources on the history of ancient Hungarians in the library of the Dalai Lamas. In the previous twenty years he had been preparing for this journey. Living in the lama monasteries of “Indian Tibet”, he learned Tibetan language and religion, composed and published the very first Tibetan dictionary and grammar (1834), and gave such a detailed description of Buddhist religion and literary canon, at that time only vaguely known in Europe, that after him no essential could be added. However, he never reached Lhasa. On the way he caught malaria and died in Darjeeling.

Before leaving Calcutta, as if he knew that he would never come back, he gave all his books to his pupil S. C. Malan, secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Malan gave over the books to Tivadar Duka, a Hungarian physician who after the collapse of the Hungarian war of independence in 1849 emigrated to Britain and later worked in India as a medical officer of the British army. Here he was intrigued by the fate of his compatriot and he collected all available information on him. He composed Csoma’s first biography in English and Hungarian, and in 1885 he donated Csoma’s books to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Among Csoma’s thirty-six Tibetan codexes the most valuable ones are the so-called “Alexander Books” that received their name after Alexander Csoma de Körös. These volumes, in which the lamas give detailed answer to the questions raised by Csoma on various topics – philosophy, religion, medicine, astronomy – in question-and-answer form, are exceptional documents of the encounter of European and Tibetan thought.

In the web documentation of Csoma’s legacy we publish for the first time the facsimile, transcription and translation of an Alexander Book, the codex number 4 on Tibetan Buddhist cosmology, and we want to go on with the publication of the other volumes as well. The documentation also includes a detailed biography of Csoma, the description of his legacy, the biography of Duka and his both monographies on Csoma, as well as a lavishly illustrated description of the Tibetan Collection of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.


The site dedicated to the Appendix of János Bolyai is also a detailed documentation of the connection and legacy of the two genial mathematicians, father and son, Farkas and János Bolyai, compiled with extreme care by Károly Horányi and Béla Mázi in the Manuscript Department of the LHAS. The site includes the hitherto most up-to-date biography of János Bolyai, based on recently discovered sources and new publications, and it publishes for the first time the facsimiles of some important letters by the two Bolyais. It publishes in its entirety the copy of the Appendix preserved in the LHAS, in which further important handwritten notes were added by János Bolyai himself. The documentation also presents in detail the complete material of the exhibition organized in 2002 for the 200th anniversary of Bolyai’s birth, the adventures of the Europen reception of non-Euclidean geometry, as well as the history of the International Bolyai Prize established at the turn of the 19th-20th century in memory of the great scholar.


And while you are there, go to see also the other sites prepared by Studiolum in collaboration with the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The Hongkong exhibition of the photo legacy of the Central Asian expeditions of Aurel Stein, of which we have also written here in Río Wang. The Stein exhibition organized on the centenary of the discovery of the famous Dunhuang library cave. The exceptionally rich medieval Hebrew codex collection of Dávid Kaufmann, of which we have also given news here and here. The 18th-century album amicorum of Franciscus Pariz Papai including handwritten notes by such notabilities as Isaac Newton or Edmund Halley. The 15th-century Corvina by the Italian humanist Ludovicus Carbo composed on the glorious deeds of Matthias Corvin, King of Hungary, with facsimile, transcription and translation. The site dedicated to Count József Teleki, founder of the Library of the Academy. Within some months we will also publish the legacy of the great Hungarian poet Miklós Radnóti, killed in 1944. And the series will hopefully continue.

Alexander Csoma de Kőrös

In 2006, on the 222th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Csoma de Kőrös, the founder of Tibetan studies we have published on the internet in Hungarian, English and Spanish, in the collaboration of Studiolum and the Oriental Collection of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the legacy of Csoma preserved in the Collection. This date is memorable in the history of Tibetan studies for another reason as well, since the Hungarian Ministry of Education in this year announced, with reference to the all-time high budget deficit, the suppression of several university departments, including that of Tibetan philology. Therefore on the frontispiece of our web publication we have also displayed, out of solidarity, together with the commemoration of Csoma’s anniversary that it was prepared “in memory of the Tibetan studies in Hungary, abolished in this year,” until the management of the collections made us cancel this reference in fear of retorsion. Accidentally, this happened in the weeks of the municipal elections in which the governing parties – the authors of the above deficit – led their campaign with the slogan “Budapest, the city of liberty and solidarity.”

This little East-European absurd is, however, absolutely not alien to the path of life of Csoma. It was already a miracle that this boy who was born in the Carpathian frontier zone of Transylvania obtained exemption from the life-long service of border-warden, compulsory there at that time, and could go to learn at the academies of Nagyenyed (Ajud) and Göttingen instead. But it is even more characteristic that when learning there about the tentative theories of affinity between the Hungarian and Uyghur languages, he decided to verify them on the spot, by reaching on foot from Hungary as far as Uyghuristan in China. At this time the “Great Game” was developing between the Russians and the British in Central Asia, inciting bloody wars between every people living along the fault line running from Turkey to China – but in the middle of the wars and epidemics Csoma safely reached the Indian-Tibetan border. And here another miracle followed. For, in spite of his astounding talents – he perfectly spoke twenty languages – Csoma arrived too early. Comparative linguistics in these decades was just in the first phase of the elaboration of the scientific methodology of linguistic affinity, so Csoma’s comparative research was foredoomed to failure. However, by a special grace of God, on the road leading to Tibet he met a commissary of the British government who was just in need of such a person for the exploration of the Tibetan language, completely unknown to Europeans at that time, but indispensable to the expansion of the British. In the thereafter following fifteen years Csoma has completely accomplished this task. Living in the austere monasteries of Tibet, he mastered both the language and the religion, composed the first Tibetan dictionary and grammar (1834), and gave such detailed description of the Buddhist religion – only obscurely known in Europe – and of the Tibetan literary canon that nothing essential has been added to it since then. And Buddhists from Tibet to Japan venerate him as the only European boddhisatva. He nevertheless only regarded this as a detour, or in the best case a preliminary study to the research of the Uyghur. However, he never reached the Uyghur.


The list of Zsolt Sütő from the Transylvanian Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureş) is the most complete collection of the information to be found about Csoma on the internet. We are on the distinguished fourth place on it. Zsolt himself has followed through the path of Csoma in India and Tibet, from where he brought home wonderful photos like this one above. He published them on his page with the title „Himalaya Blue” accompanied with his diary notes. In one of these notes he describes how difficult it is to explain to others what Csoma means to people grown up in this world of the absurd.

Today I went to Thiksey with an American couple, Farkas, with some Hungarian roots. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to recount the Csoma story in such a usual and superficial touristy conversation. I tell them that he had come here two hundred years ago, on foot. Ah, yeah, a traveler. Yes, but eventually he made the first good Tibetan-English Dictionay, among others. Ooh, yeah? I didn’t know that. And then still how far we are from his original purpose, from his Transylvanian and Göttingen years, from the Sanskrit-Tibetan-English dictionary... I’m more and more skeptical as far as it concerns the understanding of the essentials of the Hungarian raison d’être by foreigners. Not to speak about the Transylvanian raison d’être, which is not even understood by the Hungarians. The good God has imposed an interesting fable on our shoulders.

From a more fortunate place, let us say from America it is in fact difficult to understand what makes this story so remarkable. One accomplishes the respective academic studies, goes to a given place, and with the respective methodology and institutional support he composes the dictionary of the given language. A large number of American anthropologists are indeed doing so all over the world, and Franz Boas has even established a special school for this purpose. In our part of the world, however, in the eternal lack of background, institutions, network and support, and even accompanied by the suspicion, jealousy and hostility of the political and scientific potentates it is a must that a talent should either be lost or raise an outstanding achievement by a heroic effort and in solitude. Like Ryszard Kapuściński, Bohumil Hrabal and Csoma did – or even the clematis breeders mentioned in the previous two posts.

This is why it is a special joy if someone nevertheless grasps something from this. On ‘flickr’ we have come across the photo gallery “chambre-noire” by summergreen from the UK who has published this photo montage with the portrait of Alexander Csoma de Kőrös and a leaf of his Tibetan manuscripts, referring to the English version of our biography of Csoma as a source of the original images. Our gratitude for it.