A tribute to the pioneers of museum work

“The Thin World is the Saint of the Museum”: He died 60 years ago Andor Lisée And Geza Megay – Contemporary research at the Hermann Otto Museum In light of the works of its great predecessors, the Hermann Otto Museum is organizing a scientific conference in cooperation with the Ethnography and History Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences at the MAB Hall in Miskolc on November 9, 2023. Within the framework of the series of events of the Hungarian Science Festival, The First Decades of the Museum, The works of his famous predecessors and the presentation of their works, and the latest research that creates continuity with or based on the results of previous research of various science fields are described in the archaeological, historical, literary, ethnographic and restoration presentations of thirteen invited speakers.

The distinctive figures of the initial period of the Borsud-Miskolc Museum, established in 1899 and between 1901 and 1963, are Andor Lesze (Miskolc, September 19, 1880 – Miskolc, November 10, 1963) and Géza Megaj (Miskolc, March 21, 1904). – Miskolc, December 8, 1963). They both began their museum careers as voluntary, unpaid interns, motivated by their student love of objects and interest in archaeology.
From 1901, Andor Lisée worked with Josef Molnár, a reformed high school teacher and museum keeper, assisting him in his curatorial work, and then in 1905 took over from him the position of museum keeper, i.e. management of the museum, which he held until 1950. It gained city status only in 1915, and before that he worked at the Hungarian General Insurance Company Inspectorate in Miskolc from 1899, where he received a postman’s salary. In 1921, the barely seventeen-year-old Géza Migai became his colleague, who worked for several years for free, that is, an “unpaid laureate” at the museum. The museum committee voted him a salary for the first time in 1930.

Andor Lisé and Géza Megaj spent the entirety of their years as active staff at the Miskolc Museum (Lisé visited the museum even in retirement and helped with the work with his expertise), and they are connected here by their commitment to the museum, their passion and their love of the objects. Lisée worked for forty-nine years, while Megay worked for forty-two years, developing and promoting the museum, expanding, organizing and displaying the collections.

Andor Lisée’s interests spanned the subjects of archaeology, ethnography, history, art history, general education, and numismatics. As an expert numismatist, he has processed and published material from several collections of medals, among others D. The collection of medals and coins of Béla Vay, as well as the collection of medals of Géza Éles and Pál Máhr, copies of medals in school seals, and of course the rich medal collection of the Borsod-Miskolc Museum. Many of his publications have appeared in the local press and in numismatic magazines, among others.

Géza Megay’s varied and rich work at the museum as a museum assistant and chief curator covered the fields of restoration and preparation, as well as photography. In addition, he collected, organised, inventoried and painted objects as a constant participant in excavations, cave visits and various collecting trips. Since 1950, he worked as a scientific researcher and museum scientist, and in the period from 1952 to 1953 he was assigned to manage the museum for a temporary period. He published his studies as early as 1952. Among the trades, he dealt with shoemakers and watchmakers, but his real great subject remained the historical research of glass huts and the processing of memories of ironwork.

Andor Lisé and Géza Megaj were pioneers of museum work, and their names are associated with the expansion and organization of the museum’s collections, and the creation of the image and profile of the Miskolc Museum. Their rich oeuvre and works deserve appreciation and respect, which the Hermann Otto Museum would like to honor with its current commemorative conference.