The Ministry of Education and Culture paid its respects to Kosáry in a statement.
"A definitive individual in the Hungarian scientific arena, Kosáry has always remained true to his chosen science and history. His life, spanning the past century, has never been affected by current political trends. He has survived imprisonment and neglect with natural optimism, an unbroken spirit, and creative power," the ministry said.
Kosáry vehemently opposed Hungary's alignment with the Germans in the Second World War. But after the war, he was considered too "bourgeois" for Hungary's new Communist rulers. After the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, he served time in prison for his revolutionary ideas and activities. When he was released, he rose to new heights as a historian.
After Hungary became a multi-party democracy in 1989-1990, Kosáry was elected president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Three years later, he was elected again.
"He was relentless in stressing the humanistic and democratic values of both history-writing and civil life at large," the Hungarian Academy of Sciences writes of Kosáry on its website.
Kosáry has received numerous awards for his scientific achievement, including the State Award (1988), the Széchenyi Grand Prize (1995), the Academic Gold Medal (1997), the Nagy Imre Award (2003), the Prima Primissima Award (2004), the Széchenyi Gold Medal (2006) and the Radnóti Miklós Award (2007).
A committee headed by Hungarian Academy of Science president Szilveszter E. Vizi will make arrangements for Kosáry's funeral.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
