Accession 2006-39 - Martin Kovacs

Martin Louis Kovacs was born in Budapest in 1918, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1938; a Master of Arts degree in 1940; and a Ph.D. in 1942 in Budapest. From 1942 to 1948 Kovacs worked at the National Archives / Museum in Budapest. And from 1949 to 1968 he worked in Australia as a teacher and obtained a Master of Arts degree in 1955; a Bachelor of Education degree in 1956; and a Master of Education degree in 1966 from the University of Melbourne in Australia.

In 1968 he immigrated to Canada and began teaching history at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus, he became an Associate Professor in 1969, a full Professor in 1976, and served as Chairman of the Research Section at the Canadian Plains Research Centre from 1975 to 1983.

Kovacs also served on the Senior Academic Committee, the Archives Committee, and Curriculum Committee. He was a member of the Ethnic Research Section at the Canadian Plains Research Center, his public service included roles as President for the Kipling District Historical Society and as President of the Kipling District Museum Society. He was Vice-President and Conference Co-ordinator for the Canadian Association of Hungarian Studies; Vice-President and Conference Co-ordinator of the Central and East European Studies Association of Canada and he was Associate Editor of Nationalities Papers, a semi-annual journal of the association for the Study of Nationalities (USSR and East Europe).

Kovacs spoke, wrote and read several languages: English, Hungarian, German, Italian, Latin, French and Spanish. He worked and organized conferences for the Canadian Association of Hungarian Studies and the Central and East European Studies Association of Canada (Edmonton) and between 1974 and 1983 Kovacs wrote books and authored numerous papers for scholarly journals focusing on Hungarian settlement in Saskatchewan. Kovacs retired from teaching at the University of Regina in 1986.

Kovacs wrote and edited many books on early Hungarian settlement in the Canadian West including Peace and Strife: Some Facets of the History of an Early Prairie Community (Kipling, Saskatchewan: Kipling District Historical Society, 1980). Ethnic Canadians: Culture and Education. (Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina, 1978) Roots and Realities Among Eastern and Central Europeans, (Central and East European Studies Association of Canada, Edmonton. 1983) Esterhazy and Early Hungarian Immigration to Canada; a study based upon the Esterhazy immigration pamphlet, (Canadian Plains Studies Centre, University of Saskatchewan, 1974)

He also published articles relating to the subject. "The Hungarian School Question," in Ethnic Canadians: Culture and Education, ed. M.L. Kovacs (Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center, 1978), pp. 333-58. "Searching for Land: The First Hungarian Influx into Canada" Canadian-American Review of Hungarian Studies, VII, 1 (Spring, 1980), 37-43; "From Industries to Farming" Hungarian Studies Review, VIII, 1 (Spring, 1981), 45-60; as well as chapter three of Struggle and Hope.

Martin Kovacs died in Regina, Saskatchewan in 2000.