Tribute to
Dr. György Dénes
who was a father to Hungarian speleologists,
prominent character of speleology in the 20th century
honorary president of the Hungarian Speleological Society,
establisher of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service,
honorary president of the UIS Cave Rescue Commission
died at 3 a.m. of 30 April, 2015 in his age 92 years.
Dr. Gyorgy DENES was born in Orosháza (at the South of Hungary) at 3rd of September, 1923. He graduated in law at the University of Pécs. He participated in the reorganization of the Hungarian Speleological Society in 1958, where he became secretary, then secretary general and finally honorary president. He established the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service in 1961, which still exist nowadays and works with high efficiency. He was a member of the presidency of the Hungarian Geographical Society and in the Hungarian Ramblers' Association (HRA, "Friends of Nature"), president of the Cave Commission of the HRA and the Meteor Tourist Club.
He organized the speleological department within the Meteor Tourist Club in 1957. He was the leader of the exploration group of the Meteor cave in 1961, the Raisz passage of Baradla cave, the paleontological site of the Esztramos Hill which has international interest. He was the leader of countless cave explorations in different part of Hungary, but his favourite was the Aggtelek Karst region.
His scientific job was extensive: from karst hydrology through history to linguistics. His scholarship gave him opportunity to deal with ancient diplomas and found new results concerning cave histories. He was a great lecturer and was ready to share his knowledge at all times. He has more than 300 publications in Hungary and abroad in different languages.
He enjoyed the appreciation of cavers during all his life and additionally he received a lot of awards from state and governmental authorities of Hungary and foreign countries. His work and results will also be significant for future generations to come.
We are saying good-bye and keep him in our best memory.