My Professor the HeroAn extraordinary individual who was a catalyst for democratic change teaches Media and Democratization in Hungary.
by Devi Rao
This is the story of Miklós Haraszti, political activist, sociologist, former politician, and EAP professor. Back in California, I was used to taking classes from professors at the top of their field. But they always seemed to me inaccessible; the closest I ever got to them was the third or fourth row of a huge lecture hall. However, in Budapest, things were different. I found myself sitting in a classroom not much larger than my freshman dorm room, with a nationally renowned professor who called on me by name. And so, twice a week, I learned about Media and Democratization from a brilliant man who not only was an expert on the subject, but also had been a catalyst himself in Hungary’s democratization process. It was like having Paul Revere teaching a class about the American Revolution. It was like having Paul Revere teaching a class about the American Revolution. Haraszti is modest and personable, and it was easy to forget to be intimidated by his intelligence and personal history. He told us jokes about socialism and certain Russian governmental personalities. Later I would learn that he had helped construct the media laws in Hungary’s new democratic constitution. Sometimes he would snack on a pastry during class, and then I’d read that he once went on a hunger strike in jail and was force-fed. Haraszti has made history and is still continuing to make it. I went to a samizdat exhibition, which included underground music, art, literature, and political writing across Communist Eastern Europe. I looked at the exhibition leaflet in my hand only to see Haraszti’s name and a picture of one of his books. In the museum, I looked at a large black and white photograph of the editors of Beszélo", Hungary’s journal of democratic opposition during state socialism. And in the picture I saw peering out at me the same dark, quick eyes of my inspiring professor. They are the eyes of a man who will always be fighting. |
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Hungarian student of philosophy is expelled from university
in 1973 for his refusal to conform to the dictates of the Communist
government. This young socialist, poet, and political songwriter
then goes to work for a year in a factory and writes a book
about his experiences and observations. He submits a copy of
this revealing book about the plight of the worker to a publisher
and gives a few copies to his friends. These scarce copies
begin to travel through certain “dissident” circles in Budapest.
The young writer is labeled a subversive and is arrested; samizdat,
or self-published material, is not allowed by the regime. At
his trial, many testify on his behalf, but none so eloquently
as himself. Reporters fill the courtroom and his trial becomes
international news. In the end he is only admonished by the
court, which is afraid that sentencing the charismatic man
would turn him into a martyr for other dissidents and subversives. 
