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Stephen Pogany

Photo of Stephen Pogany

Emeritus Professor

Human Rights; Constitutionalism; Antisemitism; Antigypsyism; Transitions

 

I am based in Budapest, Hungary, one of Europe's most beautiful and fascinating cities. I write regularly on a range of topics for Social Europe and other outlets. My latest book, "Modern Times: The Biography of a Hungarian-Jewish Family", was published in September 2021. Baroness Julia Neuberger described it as a "superb memoir" and as "[s]ensitive, poignant, scholarly and gripping". Professor Bill Bowring, of Birkbeck, University of London, wrote: "this splendid book is a true labour of love. Stephen Pogany brings his academic skills and rigorous approach to truth, together with his warmth and generosity, to bear on painting a vivid portrait of his Hungarian-Jewish family." The book explores themes including nationalism, poverty and antisemitism in 20th century Hungary through the experiences of a mostly poor, working-class Jewish family. It draws on a wide range of academic sources, literary texts and the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. Details of more conventional scholarly work that I have published recently, particularly chapters in edited books, can be found at my personal website, https://stephenpogany.com.

I am currently working on a book provisionally entitled: "The Cemetery of Souls: An Alternative History of Sighet and Transylvania's Borderlands". The book explores critical elements of the modern history of East Central Europe - including the collapse of empire, competing nationalisms, fascism in the inter-war era, the Holocaust, communism and post-communism - through the historical experience of the town of Sighetu Marmației, or Sighet, in Transylvania's borderlands.