On February 17, 2013, after a long illness in Budapest, Károly Fendler, the oldest Hungarian Korean scholar and diplomat, doctor of political science, prominent historian of Korea of the XX century, lecturer at the Institute of Foreign Trade and since 2008 at the Korean department of Eötvös Loránd University (or ELTE University) in Budapest, died. His bibliography of six dozen scientific articles and numerous links to them on the Internet indicate that he made a significant contribution to European science about Korea.

K. Fendler was a graduate of Moscow State University: in 1958 he graduated from the Faculty of History, where he studied with US. The pack. In 1959-1993, he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary. Since the early 1960s, he had been on several long business trips to the DPRK and got to know the country well. His interest in the scientific study of Korea, which was laid down during his years of study, was always preserved. In 1974, K. Fendler published (under the pseudonym Farago Karoly) the first scientific article, and in 1977 defended his dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Political Science at the Higher Political School (Politikai Foeiskola) in Budapest. Dissertation topic: "Economic aid and loans of Socialist countries to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the post-war period, 1953-1963" ¹. After retiring in 1993, K. Fendler taught the history and economy of Korea, the history of European diplomacy of the XIX-XX centuries. and the history of North Korea.

¹ I thank the American bibliographer Frank Shulman for providing information on the topic of the dissertation of K. Fsndlsra.

For about ten years, K. Fendler worked in the Vienna archives, studying the materials of the embassies of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Tokyo, Beijing, St. Petersburg and other capitals. As a result, he wrote several articles and donated about 250 documents related to Korea to the Korea Research Foundation. They were published in a book called "Ostria Hongari cheguk wage pogoso 1885-1913 (Diplomatic Donations of the Austro-Hungarian Empire)" (Seoul, 1992), and K. Fendler was awarded the title of " Foreign Researcher of the National Institute of Korean History "(Researcher for Overseas Historical Materials, National Institute of Korean History, Kwacheon, Korea), which he was very proud of.

We, his Russian colleagues, learned of Dr. Fendler's passing with deep sorrow. Many people in our country knew him, and not only the older generation, who had studied with him at the History Department of Moscow State University in the 1950s, and with whom he had developed a lifelong friendship. Younger Russian Orientalists also knew him, as they often met with K. Fendler at conferences during his regular (since the late 1990s) visits to our country. His speeches invariably attracted attention, articles in Russian were published in "Problems of the Far East", Korean studies collections in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Vladivostok. Kara was in constant correspondence with many Russian Korean scholars. He wrote reviews of their books in English-language academic journals published in Korea. More than once I organized their visits to Hungary to participate in scientific events. I wanted to go to Novosibirsk, where students ' interest in Korea is higher than in other regions of Russia, and give a course of lectures on the history of Korea in the XX century. An agreement has already been reached, but due to the state of health of the scientist, these plans could not be implemented.

All his life Karoy collected Russian books on Korea and was a long-term subscriber to the magazines "Vostok (Oriens)" and "Problems of the Far East". They were his passion. His remaining library is probably the largest collection of its kind in Central Europe. I've been sending him literature regularly for ten years. Here are two of his letters from my archive.

April 25, 2008: "This morning I received a package from you - two magazines and two books (Kurbanova and "Lysiy Pereval"). Thank you very much, there is much to read and 'process' over the weekend. By the way, both books are very well published and designed. Do you need anything from the West (books in English, etc.)? It's easier to order from here. Thank you again, your Caroy." July 15, 2010: "This morning I received a bag of books, Vostok magazines and Larisa's abstract 3. Thank you very much, there is something to read in a tired apartment. We have an African heat wave of up to 38 degrees. Some tram tracks were raised in the capital. I can't even work at home, but I try to read a little. Thank you again. Have a nice day, your Caroy."

Our correspondence was mostly business, but it revealed his love for the profession, erudition, enthusiasm and hard work, constant desire for new knowledge, constant respect for colleagues, and interest in their work. Perhaps this desire to be constantly in the circle of active professional communication was the most important reason why Dr. Fendler never broke off ties with Russia.

I wasn't the only one who sent Karol books from Russia. With an excellent command of Russian, Caroy skimmed through everything he received, and read everything that related to his favorite topics - the history of diplomacy, Korea in the twentieth century before Liberation, or North Korea after 1945 - from cover to cover. Having no family, he devoted all his leisure time to this occupation. His penultimate publication, an afterword to V. E. Larichev's diary notes "Journey of an Archaeologist to the Land of Morning Freshness" (Novosibirsk, 2012), was also devoted to Russian literature. Caroy aptly called this book "a worthy continuation of the tradition of Russian "travel notes" " and justified this opinion. Only three pages, but this is a brilliant example of bibliographic and country-specific erudition! I remember with gratitude his valuable advice. In particular, I would like to refer to the materials of the Russian pre-revolutionary press, with which Kara was quite familiar and which I had never studied before.

He was a living link between scientists in Russia and Central Europe. And this role of his was extremely important. He was our colleague and friend. We will always miss him now.

T. M. SIMBIRTSEVA

THE MAIN SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF K. FENDLER ²

Korea's Annexation by Japan and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the Position of the Hungarian Government // Korean Studies, Its Tasks and Perspectives [Papers of the 5th International Conference on Korean Studies]. Vol. 1. Songnam: Academy of Korean Studies, 1988.

Korean Literature Published in Hungary after 1945 // Korea Journal. Vol. 30. № 3 (March 1990). P. 33-34.

One Hundred Years of Hungarian-Korean Relations // Korea Journal. Vol. 30. № 3 (March 1990). P. 26-33.

The Korean War (1950-1953) in the Foreign Affairs of Hungary: Form of Hungarian Assistance// Korea Journal. Vol.30. № 11 (November-December 1990). P. 49-60.

Economic Problems of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the 1980s // Information Service on the Unification Question of the Korean Peninsula. №91/1 (25 February, 1991). Seoul: National Unification Board. P. 31-42.

Economic Assistance and Loans from Socialist Countries to North Korea in the Postwar Years 1953-1963// Asien: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Politik, Wirtschaft und Kultur / Ed. by the German Association for Asian Studies. № 42. (January 1992). P. 39-51.

Pajzán álom (Frivolous Dream): The Kuunmong by Kim Man-jung in Hungarian // Korea Journal. Vol. 32. № 1 (Spring 1992). P. 141-143.

Selected Bibliography of Korea-Related Hungarian Publications. Compiled by K[ároly] Fendler and G[ábor] Osváth // Koreai nyelv es kultúra. Szerk. Osváth Gábor. Budapest: Külkereskedelmi Foiskola, 1995. P. 74-78.

Austro-Hungarian Archives on the Events and Situation in Korea, 1885-1912// Proceedings of the International Conference "100 Years of the Korean Studies at St. Petersburg University". St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg State University, Oriental Faculty, Center for Korean Language and Culture, 1997. P. 84.

Austro-Hungarian archival documents on the history of Korea in 1884-1910. Collection of articles: To the eightieth anniversary of the birth of Professor Mikhail Nikolaevich Pak. Moscow: MCC MEU; Muravey, 1998. p. 137-148.

The North Korea Phenomenon : Pyongyang waits for its "own" Pak Chong-Hee? //  [Pukhan Hakpo]. No. 22. 1998. P. 187-208.

Austro-Hungarian Sources on the Tonghak Uprising and on the Chinese War / / Bulletin of the Korean Language and Culture Center. Issue 3-4. Saint Petersburg: Center for Petersburg Oriental Studies, 1999. pp. 117-121.

Austro-Hungarian sources and contemporary evidence about the CER and the construction of railways in Korea / / Problems of the Far East. 2001. No. 6. p. 122-131.

Anakin's Shots: A view from Austria-Hungary / / Russian Korean Studies. Almanac. Issue 2. Moscow: MCC MSU; Muravey, 2001. pp. 157-163.

Count Péter Vay, Bishop (1863-1948) a Forgotten Hungarian Traveller in and About Korea at the Beginning of the 20^th Century (Foreword) // Péter Vay. Korea of Bygone Days. Ed. by Birtalan Agnes. Budapest: Terebess Publications. 2001. P. 9-16.

The Korean Question as it Seems from Hungary Historical Background to Dividing of Korea and the Korean War // Aspects of Korean Civilization / Ed. by Birtalan Agnes. Budapest: Eötvös Lóránd University, Dept. of Inner Asian Studies, 2002. P. 21-27.

Austro-Hungarian Sources on the Railroad Construction in Korea and Manchuria before Japanese Annexation // Aspects of Korean Civilization 2 / Ed. by Birtalan Agnes. Budapest: Eötvös Lóránd University, Dept. of Inner Asian Studies, 2004. P. 105-107.

Forgotten Journey: Hungarian Count, Bishop Wai on Korea on the eve of Japanese colonial aggression / / Bulletin of the Center for Korean Studies of the Far Eastern State University. 2004. No. 1 (6). Special issue, pp. 95-97.

Austro-Hungarian Archival Sources of Korean History (1884-1910)// Seoul Journal of Korean Studies. 2007. Vol. 20. № 2. P. 221-235.

Book Review. Russian Historians on the DPRK// Korea Journal. 2008. Vol.48. № 2 (Summer 2008). P. 186-198.

Söngun: On the Past and Present of North Korea's 'Military First' Policy // Vienna Working Papers on East Asian Economy and Society. Vol. 2. № 1 / Ed. by Rüdiger Frank. Wien: Universität Wien, 2009. P. 1-16.

On the Japanese plan to kidnap the Korean Emperor Kojon during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905: Russian diplomacy saved Kojon: (to the 105th anniversary of the Japanese Protectorate and the 100th anniversary of the Japanese annexation of Korea) / / Problems of the Far East. 2010. No. 4. p. 141-144.

Afterword / / Larichev V. E. Journey of an archaeologist to the Land of morning freshness / Ed. by S. V. Alkin. Novosibirsk: Publishing House of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS, 2012. pp. 89-100.

² Comp. :L. R. Kontsvich, T. M. Simbirtsva.

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