University of Debrecen

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The University of Debrecen (in Hungarian: Debreceni Egyetem) is a major university located in Debrecen, Hungary. It was formed in 2000 with the unification of three former universities (University of Agriculture, Lajos Kossuth University and the Medical University) and several colleges.

History

Higher education began in Debrecen with the Calvinist College of Debrecen, which was founded in 1538. By the end of the 18th century the College had five departments. In 1908, the Calvinist Academy of Humanities was created, and teacher training started.

In 1912, the Hungarian Royal University was founded. The university incorporated the theology, law, and humanities faculties of the College and added a medical school. Teaching began in 1914 in the old Calvinist College buildings. In 1918, the first new medical school building was opened, and the original medical school campus was completed in 1927.

In 1921, the university took the name of István Tisza, former prime minister of Hungary. In 1932 the university's main building was completed. It is the largest building in the city, and was designed in eclectic and neo-baroque style. The building houses the university library, which, with almost 6 million items, is the second largest library in the country.

The Faculty of Natural Sciences was founded in 1949, and moved into the new Chemistry Building in 1970.

In 1949/1950, the University was restructured under communist control. The Faculty of Theology was returned to the Calvinist College, the Faculty of Medicine became an independent university (until 2000), the Faculty of Law was discontinued, and members of the teaching staff were expelled from the University. The departments of English, French, Italian, German, and Classical Philology were closed, while the Department of Russian expanded dramatically. The teaching of western languages resumed only after 1956, with the exception of Italian which was not offered again until the 1990s.

In 1952 the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Natural Sciences changed their name to Lajos Kossuth University, which they retained until 2000.

Inner yard of the main university building (Díszudvar)

On January 1, 2000, the colleges and universities of Hajdú-Bihar county, the University of Agriculture, Lajos Kossuth University, and the Medical University, were combined. The resulting University of Debrecen had five university and three college level faculties, and 20,000 students. The Conservatory of Debrecen and schools of the University in Hajdúböszörmény and Nyíregyháza joined later.

The Debrecen Summer School, founded in 1927, is also located on campus, although it is technically independent from the university. The School teaches Hungarian culture and Hungarian as a foreign language to foreigners, year-round.

External link

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[University of Debrecen Website]

	List of universities in Hungary
Universities in Budapest Eötvös Loránd University \| Budapest University of Technology and Economics \| Corvinus University of Budapest \| Central European University \| Andrássy Gyula German Language University of Budapest \| Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music \| Semmelweis University \| Pázmány Péter Catholic University \| Károli Gáspár University of the Hungarian Reformed Church \| Evangelical-Lutheran Theological University \| Jewish Theological Seminary – University of Jewish Studies \| Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design \| Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest \| Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts \| Zrínyi Miklós National Defence University Universities in the rest of the country Reformed Theological Academy of Debrecen \| Szent István University \| Széchenyi István University \| University of Debrecen \| University of Kaposvár \| University of Miskolc \| University of Pécs \| University of Szeged \| Pannon University \| University of West Hungary

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