The Széchenyi Prize-winning biologist, university professor, former minister, regular member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, former vice-president died on Saturday at the age of 89.

The scientist was professor emeritus of Pázmány Péter Catholic University, former minister of national cultural heritage, former president of the Hungarian UNESCO Committee and president of the Society for the Dissemination of Knowledge until his death. He was a renowned researcher of the functional structure of the nervous system and the connections between nerve elements, and his work is significant in the field of research on brain nerves...

...He wrote more than two hundred publications, numerous books and book chapters. For more than fifty years, he participated in biological and medical undergraduate and postgraduate education. He taught PhD students in Pécs and Budapest as a program manager. From 1990 to 2002, he was a professor at the Zoology Department of the Janus Pannonius University. Between 1992 and 1994 he was the rector of the Janus Pannonius University, and in 1993 and 1994 he was the president of the Hungarian Rectors' Conference. From 2001, he taught neurobiology at Pázmány Péter Catholic University and worked with PhD students. Between 1998 and 2000, he was the Minister of National Cultural Heritage of the first Orbán government, between 2000 and 2002 he was the prime minister's science policy advisor, and then the president of the Science and Technology Policy College. In 1999, he was the president of the World Science Conference organized by UNESCO, and from 2000 to 2012, he was the president of the Hungarian UNESCO Committee. Between 2000 and 2017, he also acted as the president of the Hungarian Heritage Award Committee.

His excellent domestic and international professional work, humanity, decisive character and values ​​were an example for many. He was also elected honorary citizen in Budapest, Szolnok, and his birthplace, Fegyvernik. Until his death, he held the position of president of the Association of Descendants of Szolnok County. He was a member of the Council of Centuries, the Kossuth and Széchenyi Prize Committee, and the Council for the Elderly under the supervision of the Prime Minister's Office.

József Hámori's funeral will be arranged later.

more about József Hámori's work here.

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