Oldal 25 [25]
“THE ‘ETERNAL CANDIDATE’ — THAT WAS ME”: INTERVIEW WITH KAROLY BARD
team also had honorary members, who did not play and women: Kéri’s wife, Zita
Petschnig and Zsófi Mihancsik. Ihe hard core of the team was also a group of
friends. Sometimes we celebrated New Years Eve together. Indeed, we always
helped out when Kéri moved house, I was the driver.
V. Z. K.: You have already mentioned some members of Jogtatók. We could also
add Barnabas Lenkovics or Bela Pokol to the list. These are all people who have
become leading members of the Hungarian legal and political elite, as researchers,
lawyers, ombudsmen or constitutional court judges. In hindsight, one could even
say that Jogtatök was a sort of incubator for the elite. How did you see this group
at the time: was it more about the joy of football or a chance for networking?
K. B.: This was a closed group, not everyone was a member of the team who later
acquired some high ranking position. And for sure, it wasn’t just about football.
If that had been the case, I don’t think everyone would have stayed a member of
Jogtatök. Like I said, we were also a group of friends, who knew they were free to
talk to each other about everything. There were some young teachers with whom
I was careful about what I said. But this was never the case with Jogtatök. Plus, the
group was made up of really witty people. So much so, that the team was invited to
perform at a New Year’s Eve standup comedy show. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take
part in that performance because I was in Helsinki at the time of the recording.
To this day, I don’t know how we caught the organizers’ attention.
As for visions for our future careers, I remember we were toying with the idea
at team practice who would get which portfolio if we were to form a government.
We unanimously selected Jutasi for prime minister as the most suitable candidate.
As for me, I got the ministry of justice every time. Of course, this was just fun and
jokes. I don’t think any of us foresaw the career he would make. It was Kukorelli
and I who stayed loyal to the university for the longest time. The rest went off to
work at the Institute of Social Sciences, the Prime Minister’s Office and so on.
Of course, they continued to teach in their spare time, but they felt that world of
higher education could no longer contain them.
Early research career
V. Z. K.: Football, however, did not throw you off the scholarly path. Indeed, in a
way, the two were even connected. I heard that you organized an ‘exchange program’
between the young teachers from the University of Vienna and ELTE, which ran
for many years. You visited Vienna and next year, the Austrian colleagues came to
Budapest. To me it seems as though this initiative was just as much about football,
as scientific exchange. What was the purpose of this ‘exchange program’ and how
exactly did the two universities cooperate?
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