The exhibition catalogue of "The Numerus Clausus vs. Women," held at 2B Gallery, Budapest, Aug 2021

Fortepan 158398 – Preisich family

The Numerus Clausus vs Women

Despite its neutral and rather technical title, Law XXV of

violence of the 1920s prompted further thousands of Jewish

1920 „On regulating enrolment at universities, technical

students to go abroad and enroll at the universities of

universities, the faculty of economics, and the schools of

Austria, Czechoslovakia, Italy, and France. Historians

law” was nonetheless the earliest instance of anti-Jewish

estimate the numbers of Hungarian Jewish students

legislation in Europe in the postwar era. It was enacted a

studying abroad between 1920 and 1938 at around ten

hundred years and some months ago, in September 1920 by

thousand. In addition to financial hardship and isolation,

the Hungarian Assembly, and became instantly known as

they faced more difficulties on their return in trying to get

the numerus clausus law.

their freshly acquired diplomas recognized – and in any case, after 1938, the advance of Fascism made this

It ended the practice of unlimited university enrolment,

temporary escape route obsolete.

until then guaranteed for every high-school graduate. More importantly, by inserting a clause into its instructions, the

Despite the still widely held – and mistaken – view that

law breached the liberal principle of equal citizenship. The

the numerus clausus was discontinued after 1928, the law’s

ominous clause overrode the 1867 emancipation of Jews by

modification in that year resulted in a change in its letter but

declaring them not a denomination but an ethnicity – and

not its practice. While the word “Jewish” would be erased

restricted their number in the student body to the 6% ratio

from the law’s instructions, it was replaced by a carefully

they represented in the general population. The law also tied

calculated condition that tied university acceptance to the

enrolment to “loyalty to the nation and upstanding

profession or trade of the applicant’s father; and reinforced

morality”, effectively excluding students with any leftist

by further anti-Jewish legislation from 1938 on it ensured

leanings. Overzealous university administrators went a step

the continuing discrimination against Jewish students until

further and, for good measure, extended a ban to women at

the end of the Second World War.

most Budapest universities until 1926.

Originally planned to open on the centennial of the The numerus clausus law succeeded in drastically

legislation, our exhibition is designed to celebrate the

reducing the number and ratio of Jewish students at

accomplishments, in the face of tremendous obstacles, of a

Hungarian universities and denied tens of thousands of

generation whose members suffered discrimination both as

Jewish youth of upward mobility through education.

Jews and women. By retracing their individual

Furthermore, the highly antisemitic climate and anti-Jewish

trajectories and celebrating their achievements, we also

hope to gain insight into the broader, intertwined

from psychoanalysis to photography, reform pedagogy, or

developments of women’s emancipation and Jewish

modern dance, to mention just a few. Even this cursory look

assimilation in the interwar period. During the liberal era

suggests that despite the half-hearted modernization of the

before1918, women’s emancipation, including participation

prewar period and the illiberal turn after 1919, Hungarian

in higher education in Hungary progressed along Western

Jewish women continued to play a pioneering role in the

European lines. And daughters of the assimilated Hunga-

progressive intellectual and artistic movements.

rian Jewish middleclass were prominently represented in this process. The numerus clausus law effectively halted this

Lastly, we include examples of the new beginnings and

trend but we know very little about the resulting dynamic of

challenges after the war when, besides rebuilding lives and

social and cultural changes and need to explore further their

starting families, some of them were able to finally enroll

wider impact on Hungarian society in the1920s and 1930s

at university and achieve prominence in their profession.

– and beyond.

Others transcended professional and gender boundaries to make valuable contributions to a number of intellectual and

The young women you see on the photos were all born

artistic fields. Our aim is to commemorate the exceptional

between 1900 and 1925 and differed widely by their place

lives and achievements of this generation of women with the

of birth, their socio-economic, family and cultural

help of photos, memoirs, and personal documents – and we

background, denomination, and life trajectories. What they

are grateful to family members and descendants for sharing

all had in common was the desire to study and the fact that

them.

the numerus clausus law had a fundamental impact on their

Judith Szapor

lives, greatly limiting their opportunities. Our exhibition highlights these constraints and difficult choices: the apprenticeships theyreluctantly entered when even the best and brightest among them would be denied university education; the dilemmas and hardships in the decision of studying abroad; and their fate during the years of increasing anti-Jewish legislation and persecution from thel ate 1930s on. The exhibition also provides insight into emerging, thoroughly modern fields they entered, ranging

The exhibition is part of the research project „Academic antisemitism, women’s emancipation, and Jewish assimilation,” supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant.

Curators: Judit Szapor and Eva Karadi Design and visual content: Csaba Szentesi, István Jávor, Judit Csanádi and Gabriella Kiss

Fortepan 158398 – Preisich family

family Fortepan 158398 – Preisich