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