Passing of former Loughry staff member

His daughter was visiting him in Hungary and they had been out on Friday evening (20th) for a meal. together. Janos died in his sleep that night aged 90.

Janos was a colourful character. As a student at Budapest at the time of the Hungarian uprising against the Communists in 1956, he crossed the border from Hungary with a small number of other students crawling for some distance at night on their bellies to avoid border guards. With little English, after a short period in Cambridge he came to Queen’s to complete his undergraduate degree subsequently gaining his PhD. Because of lack of sympathy with the communist regime he was not able to return to Hungary until the 1980s.

He spent his working life in the Department of Agriculture mostly at Loughry College with the exception of a short period representing ICI in Eastern Europe. Apart from his native Hungarian, and at this time fluent English, he also spoke Russian and could communicate passably in two other Eastern European languages. In his teaching he had great attention to detail, demanded a high standard from students and was very supportive of students.

He will be remembered with affection by all who knew him. The manner of his passing was a peaceful end to an eventful life.