Laszlo Szemere

* Lastomér, October 26, 1884 – † Veszprém, December 8, 1974 / mycologist, ornithologist ; ; He began his university studies at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Budapest, then graduated in law at the University of Budapest, and later at the University of Cluj. He acquired his knowledge of botany and zoology mainly self-taught. From 1909 he worked in the public administration in Csík County, and according to some sources he also monitored the migration of migratory birds in this capacity. He operated an ornithological station and also dealt with the stuffing of birds. From 1920 he was a lecturer at the Ornithological Institute. From 1924 to 1938 he worked in the experimental department of the Ministry of Agriculture, and between 1938 and 1946 he was the head of the mycology department of the Plant Physiology and Plant Pathology Station. In his ornithological research, he mainly dealt with the life of birds of prey. His main field of interest was mycology. He was one of the first to join the research program entitled “The Natural Picture of the Bakony”. In his old age, at the age of seventy, in 1960, he moved to the Bakony, to the village of Hárskút, where a wide variety of mushroom species can be found in the surrounding forests. He listed a total of 446 mushroom species from the Bakony. One of his main topics within mycology was the research of truffles, in which he achieved worldwide recognized results. His work written in 1970 on the subject was the only professional book for decades. In addition to his research, he regularly organized mushroom courses. In his profession, he was referred to only as the “hermit of the Bakony”. ; ; His main works: ; The Handbook of Bird Hunting, 1915, ; The Alphabet of Household Canning, 1924, ; Mushroom book for beginners. A guide to identifying and selling the most common mushrooms, 1926, ; Mushroom sales guide, 1940, ; The underground mushrooms of the Karpathian Basin, 1965, ; The underground mushroom world, 1970.