Pálma Baász-Szigeti (1954) is a Transylvanian Hungarian fine artist. She is the widow of Imre Baász, and she is also the caretaker of his bequest and the founder of the Imre Baász Collection.

Ort:
- Sfantu Gheorghe, Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania

Beke, László

László Beke is an art historian and curator. He studied at the Art History and Hungarian Language departments of Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. Beginning in 1968, he was a research fellow in art history at the Research Institute for Art History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. From 1988 to 1995, he was chief curator of the painting collections of the Hungarian National Gallery and from 1995 to 2000 was the general director of the Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle in Budapest. Between 2000 and 2011, Beke served as the director of the Research Institute of Art History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. Since 1990, he has been a professor at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts and teaches at several other Hungarian institutions as well. Beginning in the late 1960s, he began participating in the activities of the underground contemporary art movements in Hungary. Beke is the author of approximately 400 studies, articles and catalogue essays and has been the editor of 15 books.

The first two decades of Beke’s career ran along parallel paths: at his official workplace he researched Medieval goldsmithery (his doctorate was about cloisonné enamel pieces), while in his free time he participated intensively in progressive art events that took place primarily at marginal locations. He soon became one of the major organizers of these events. Beke initiated projects, participated and organized events at the Chapel Studio in Balatonboglár, organized exhibitions at the Club of Young Artists in Budapest and happenings at the Ganz Cultural Center that were formally conducted as educational lectures. In the meantime, he built an extensive private archive, wrote essays, organized many exhibitions and served as a consultant for many exhibitions abroad. In 1977, Beke received the Kassák Prize awarded by the Magyar Műhely in Paris for the documentation of Hungarian art.

At around the time of the régime change in Hungary, the unofficial and official paths of Beke’s career merged. He received the Mihály Munkácsy Prize in 1989 and the Széchenyi Prize in 2009.

Ort:
- Budapest, Hungary

Beljo, Ante

Ante Beljo was born in the village Veliki Gornji Ograđenik near Čitluk, Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1946. He attended primary school in his hometown and secondary school in Široki Brijeg. At the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, he studied physics, but he did not complete his studies, because in 1967 he emigrated to Austria, and then to Canada in May 1968. In Sudbury, the largest city in Northern Ontario, in addition to his regular work, he was also an active participant in Croatian cultural organizations in Canada and North America. He is one of the founders of the Croatian-Canadian Folklore Federation and was active in the work of Amnesty International. During the introduction of the multiparty system in Croatia (1989-1990), he became involved in the activities of the Croatian Democratic Union in Canada. In 1990 he returned to Croatia, and in January 1991 he established the Croatian Information Centre, an NGO with the mission of informing the international public and Croatian emigrants about events in Croatia and Bosnia- Herzegovina. From 1993 to 2000 he served as director of the Croatian Heritage Foundation. He was a member of the Croatian Parliament for two terms (elected in 1995 and 2000). In 1995 he was awarded the Order of Danica for special merits in education.

Ort:
- Zagreb, Croatia

Benažić, Marina

Marina Benažić is a professor of art history and comparative literature. Since 2006, she has been the curator of the Tošo Dabac Archive, and its manager since January 2007. Her position as manager of the Archive means that she is the chief executive of the Archive, the main organizer of all events organized by the Archive, and also makes her the most conversant with the contents of the Archive.

Benažić was not associated with the socialist regime, nor was she involved in the cultural activities of the opposition. Her importance to the Collection rests on the fact that she is its manager.

Ort:
- Zagreb, Croatia

Benda, Kálmán

Kálmán Benda (1913–1994) was a Hungarian historian and archivist. He studied history and geography at the science university of Budapest as a student at the Eötvös College. He got scholarships to pursue studies in Vienna, Berlin, and Paris in 1937–1938. From 1938 to 1942, he was the director of the People’s College in Tata. He worked as an instructor at the Calvinist Grammar School of Budapest (1940–1941) and assistant administrator at the Ministry of Religion and Public Education (1941–1942). In 1942, he began working at the Teleki Pál Science Institute. He served as vice-director at the Institute between 1945 and 1947. He taught at the science university of Budapest (1945–1949), and he was vice-director at the East European Science Institute (1947–1948), but he lost his job at the end of 1948 for political reasons. Benda earned a living doing odd jobs, but in 1950, he was given a position at the Archive of the Church District along the Danube River of the Hungarian Calvinist Church. In 1957–1958, Benda served as the vice-director of the Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. From 1958 to 1983, he was a fellow at the Institute. From 1983 to 1985, he was head of department. In 1985–1987, he was a scientific advisor at the Institute. He taught at the school of education at Szeged (1975–1977), and in 1980 he was made the director of the Ráday Collection. In 1984, he became an honorary professor at Eötvös Loránd University. As a scholar, he focused on the history of Hungarian and Transylvanian culture and education in the Early Modern Age.

Ort:
- Budapest, Hungary
- Tata, Hungary