Hungary’s far right has demanded since the change of regime that the school be renamed, but university autonomy earlier made it possible to resist the demand, Népszabadság writes.

A large number of scientists, entrepreneurs and politicians – not necessarily left-wingers – attended the high school, and when it became clear that the ministry wants to resolve the question by force, alumni created a Facebook page under the name Ne Nevezzék át a Ságvárit!, (“Don’t rename the Ságvári”) which received nearly 8,000 ‘likes’ in a few days.

Ságvári was an anti-war and anti-fascist activist in the 1940s before he was killed in a shootout with gendarmes in a Buda café in 1945.

A trained lawyer, he had been active in left-wing politics in the 1930s and joined the Communist Party in 1940.

A law passed in January of last year stipulates that no company, NGO or public institution can carry the name of a person who is considered to have had a major role in laying the foundations for 20th-century tyranny.

The University of Szeged has said it will fully co-operate with the ministry.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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