Catalogue of the joint exhibition of the Budapest History Museum and the Hungarian National Széchényi Library, 5 April to 15 September, 2013 Mount Ararat as a permanent point of reference and a refuge for all times is a dual emblem of the exemplary respect the Armenians have for their tradition. What the Armenian diasporas reveal all over the world is how community culture and identity can be retained even far from the homeland and despite the loss of the mother tongue. Besides the Caucasian region, where Armenian culture is endemic, its presence in the Carpathian Basin can also be traced back many centuries. The exhibition and the accompanying catalogue, coming with additional explanatory papers written by expert researchers, serve to foster the appreciation of the historical, cultural, and artistic values of the Armenians in the Carpathian Basin. A valuable segment of the treasures here presented has so far been inaccessible not only to lay art-lovers but even to the scientific world. The main objective is to bear witness to the preserving power of culture and the fruits of Armenian and Hungarian coexistence.

Dr. Bálint Kovács is a senior research fellow in the Leipzig Centre for the History and Culture of East Central Europe (Leipzig/Germany), where he is coordinating the research project "Armenians in East-Central Europe". He studied History, Catholic Theology and Law in  Budapest. He received a PhD in history from the Peter Pazmany Catholic University (Budapest-Piliscsaba) in 2010. In 2011-2013 Kovács taught Eastern European history at the Peter Pazmany University in Budapest.  His fields of interest include the history of Eastern Europe (especially Transylvania), the Caucasus and the cultural history of the Armenian Diaspora. His current research focuses on the history of  the Armenians in East-Central Europe.

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