Lajos Kelemen of Nagyernye: A Historian-Archivist (1877–1963)

Abstract

This paper presents the essential stages in the life of the archivist‑historian Lajos Kelemen. As a mentor, he contributed significantly to innovating Hungarian scholarship from Transylvania after 1920, initiated by a new historical paradigm. In all his duties – teacher at the Unitarian College in Cluj, archivist at the Archive of Transylvanian National Museum, General Director of the Transylvanian National Museum and its Archive in Cluj, or Unitarian chief‑caretaker – he put his interests in the service of his community. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Archive of the Transylvanian Museum Society consisted of only forty thousand items, but thanks to his activity, they turned into a vast collection comprising one million documents. By personal example, Lajos Kelemen contributed to the education of many scholars, including Zsigmond Jakó and Attila T. Szabó. In recognition of his work, Lajos Kelemen was bestowed the Hungarian Corvin Chain in 1940 and the Hungarian Heritage Prize in 2011.