MILEV

1904

Bernát Munkácsi (Oradea, 1860 – Budapest, 1937) was an academic, linguist, and ethnologist who dedicated much of his career to researching the Finno-Ugric roots of the Hungarian language. The eldest of Sara Stein (Oradea, 1839 – Oradea, 1914) and Adolf Munk’s nine children, Bernát Munkácsi “Magyarized” his name in 1881 when he was a student at the University of Pest. In parallel with his scholarly career, Munkácsi served as school inspector for the Jewish Community of Pest, reforming religious education for Neolog Jews. His Universal Curriculum of 1906, , promoted the importance of learning Hebrew and reading texts in their original language. His commitment to source languages, passed down from his father, was reflected in all his scholarly work.