From the Slopes of the Mecsek Hills to the Himalayas – Geographical Researches Focusing on Asia in Pécs. Professor József Tóth’s Role as a School Founder

In my study, I review the role of Professor József Tóth in the establishment of the Asia Centre of the University of Pécs, in the organization of the Centre’s operation, and I also attempt to take stock of the effects of the foundation that continue to this day. Cognition and empiricism – naturally – played a prominent role in Professor Tóth’s holistic worldview. He loved to explore and experience the Earth himself. The curiosity of discovery matured into the curiosity of analysis and learning, and if he himself could not or did not want to continue this process of experience, he looked for those in his environment who continued the “case.” With this attitude, Professor Tóth changed human destinies, including mine, when in 1996 he introduced me to the Indian professor Gopal Krishan, my later mentor, a teacher at the Panjab University in Chandigarh, whom I was able to meet the following year on the subcontinent, and thus began for me, as well as for the Asia Centre, the adventure of researching India and discovering its intellectual and cultural values.

Keywords: Professor József Tóth, Asia Centre, India, Gopal Krishan, Surya Kant, Gandhi Bust