András Róna-Tas | |
|---|---|
 Rona-Tas in 2008 | |
| Born | (1931-12-30)30 December 1931 (age 93) |
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András Róna-Tas (born 30 December 1931) is a Hungarian historian and linguist.
He was born in 1931 inBudapest. Róna-Tas studied under such preeminent professors asGyula Ortutay andLajos Ligeti, and received a degree in folklore and eastern linguistics (Tibetan,Mongol, andTurkic.)
From 1956, he worked at theFaculty of Humanities of theEötvös Loránd University. In 1957–1958, Róna-Tas conducted anthropological fieldwork inMongolia, studying the culture, language, and folklore of thenomadic tribes in that country. During the mid-1960s, Róna-Tas focused his fieldwork on theChuvash people of the middleVolga River basin.[citation needed] In 1964, Róna-Tas defended his candidates (CSc) degree, and finally in 1971, he earned a doctorate from theHungarian Academy of Sciences (DSc) with his thesis "The Theory of Linguistic Affinity and the Linguistic Relations between theChuvash andMongol Languages", published asLinguistic Affinity in 1978.[citation needed]
From 1968 to 2002, Róna-Tas was professor ofAltaic Studies and Early Hungarian History atJózsef Attila University inSzeged, where he is now a distinguished professor emeritus.[1] He has published over 450 papers, monographs and reviews. Hismagnum opus,A honfoglaló magyar nép, was published in 1996 and an extended translated version,Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages, appeared in 1999.[citation needed]
In addition to his work on the earlyMagyars, Róna-Tas has published numerous works on otherEurasian societies such as theTibetans,Kipchaks,Khazars,Oghuz Turks andAlans. He was awarded the prestigiousHumboldt Prize in 1996.[citation needed]
