Peter Rakos

* Košice, February 14, 1925 – † Prague, August 15, 2002 / literary historian, literary translator, university teacher ; ; He completed his school studies in his hometown, graduating in 1943. He suffered in a concentration camp in 1944–1945, and graduated from Charles University in Prague in 1945–1950, majoring in philosophy and history. From 1950, he taught at the Hungarian seminary led by József Blaskovics (Ímely), of which he was the head between 1963–1991, first as an associate professor and then as a professor. In 1989, he obtained the scientific degree of Doctor of Literature. At the same time, he was also the president of the International Hungarian Philological Society. He did extensive work as a teacher and researcher, primarily on the 19th and 20th centuries. He dealt with the history of 19th-century Hungarian literature and issues of Czech-Hungarian literary and cultural relations. He played a decisive role in the development of Hungarian studies in the Czech Republic. He also considered it important to popularize Hungarian literature and Hungarian culture in the Czech Republic. He translated the works of many Hungarian authors into Czech, and he usually wrote a preface or afterword, an informative and evaluative study for the volumes of Hungarian authors published in Czech translation. He compiled a Czech-language mini-lexicon introducing Hungarian writers (Slovník spisovatelů – Maďarsko, 1971), and also wrote a textbook in Czech on 20th-century Hungarian literature. ; ; His main works: ; Tények és kérdőjelek, 1971, ; Az irodalom igazá, 1987, ; Prágai órjárat, 1995.