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Dr. Balazs Apor

Associate Prof in European Studies (Russian & Slavonic Studies)
Associate Prof in European Studies (Centre fro European Studies)
 (3531896) 3224
ARTS BUILDING
      
Profile Photo

Dr. Balazs Apor

Associate Prof in European Studies (Russian & Slavonic Studies)
ARTS BUILDING

 aporb@tcd.ie

 3531896 3224

Associate Prof in European Studies (Centre fro European Studies)

 (3531896) 3224


Born in Miskolc (Hungary) in 1976. Undergraduate and Graduate Studies: University of Debrecen (Hungary), 1994-1999. PhD in History, European University Institute, Florence (Italy) (2001-2006)
  Eastern European history in the 20th century   Social history of Soviet-type regimes
Project Title
 COURAGE: Cultural Opposition - Understanding the Cultural Heritage of Dissent in the Former Socialist Countries
From
1 February 2016
To
31 January 2019
Summary
COURAGE is a three-year international research project funded by Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The project will create the first digital database of both online and offline, as well as private and public collections in Europe which testify to the survival of various forms of cultural opposition in the former socialist countries. These collections cover a period from the rise of communist regimes in the region to the fall of the Iron Curtain. COURAGE will further a more nuanced understanding of how these collections work, what functions they have in their respective societies, and how they present their holdings to national and international audiences. The project will contribute to the development of nuanced interpretations of dissent, and will advance the preservation of collections as part of common European heritage. The role of TCD is to explore collections of cultural opposition in the former Soviet republic of Ukraine, and to address the importance of Ukrainian diaspora collections in the preservation of the legacy of dissent.
Funding Agency
European Commission
Programme
Horizon2020
Project Title
 Communist Leader Cults in 20th Century Europe
From
26/02/2015
To
07/11/2015
Summary
The main aim of the project is to prepare the grounds for the submission of a grant proposal on the topic of Communist leader cults in modern Europe (East and West) to an Irish and/or European fund. The first phase of the process will be devoted to the creation of an international (initially, Europe-wide) research network, starting with the Central European University and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, Hungary. Activities, other than travelling and meeting potential research partners, will include the identification of priority research themes in co-operation with the proposed partner institutions, and the purchase of computer and digital equipment.
Funding Agency
Irish Research Council
Programme
'New Foundations' Scheme 2014
Project Type
building research network
Project Title
 Memories and Identities in Central and Eastern Europe
From
2014
To
2015
Summary
The aim of the project is to organise the conference, 'Memories and Identities in Central and Eastern Europe'. The conference will be organized by the Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies, in cooperation with the Center for European Studies at TCD, and the Irish Association for Russian, Central and East European Studies. The project enjoys the support of the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies, and it will also be advertised as the 2015 annual conference of IARCEES. The conference grows out of a series of lectures, seminars and workshops organized by the Centre for European Studies in the past few years. The notions 'memory' and 'identity' have enjoyed significant scholarly attention in the past few decades. The 'memory boom' in the humanities has resulted in several collaborative projects, and in the publication of numerous articles and books on the subject. Memories of traumatic events-the Holocaust and Stalinist terror-and their impact on the transformation of individual as well as collective identities have been in the limelight of research, especially since the collapse of communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. The aim of the conference is to attract and/or invite renowned scholars working in the field, and to provide an opportunity for the new generation of researchers to present their findings. Due to the interdisciplinary character of memory (and identity) studies, it is envisaged that the conference will attract scholars in politics, sociology, history, and cultural studies. A selection of the best papers will be published either as an edited volume or as a special issue of the journal of IARCEES, the Irish Slavonic Studies.
Funding Agency
Trinity Long Room Hub
Programme
Research Incentives Scheme
Project Type
Conference
Project Title
 The "Invisible Shining": The Cult of Matyas Rakosi in Stalinist Hungary, 1945-1956
From
02/02/2015
To
02/02/2017
Summary
The aim of the project is to commission the translation of my book manuscript.
Funding Agency
Trinity College Dublin, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Programme
Arts and Social Sciences Benefactions Fund 2014/15
Project Type
translation of book manuscript
Project Title
 Methods of Cult-building in Communist Hungary
From
1 September 2001
To
29 September 2006
Summary
The overall attempt of the project was to analyse the emergence, the development and the decay of a satellite leader's cult in the peripheries of the Stalinist Empire - namely the Soviet bloc - in the post-war era (1945-1956). The project was the first endeavour to systematically study the construction of the cult of a mini-Stalin, in this case, the secretary of the Hungarian Workers' Party, Mátyás Rákosi. Such a scrutiny of the methods of cult-building in Hungary would likely enhance our understanding of the dynamics of the post-war Sovietisation project in the region and the similarities/differences in the process of adopting the 'Soviet pattern', including the leader cult phenomenon, in Eastern Europe. The project focused on three different aspects of cult-construction in Hungary and was divided into three main parts accordingly. (1) The major strategies of the party centre to implement the Soviet system of myths and rituals - the requisites of a new political religion - in the country. (2) The party's strategies to monitor the development of the cult, and the popular reception of the worship of rulers. (3) The methods of dismantling the cult in the period of the 'New Course' after June 1953, and after the 20th Congress of the CPSU in February 1956.
Funding Agency
European University Institute
Programme
Phd programme
Project Type
Phd dissertation

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Details Date
Series Editor, "Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies series", Anthem Press (New York-Delhi-London) 2008 to present
Editorial Board member, "Nationalisms Across the Globe" book series, Peter Lang 2013 to present
President of the Irish Association for Russian, Central and East European Studies 2012-2015
External examiner, BA in European Studies, NUI Maynooth 2018
External examiner, PhD viva, School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies, Dublin City University December 2018
External examiner, PhD defense, Department of History, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary April 2018
External examiner, MA in History (Modern European History strand), University College Dublin 2011-2013
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
German Fluent Medium Basic
Hungarian Fluent Fluent Fluent
Details Date From Date To
Member, Irish Association for Russian, Central and East European Studies 2009 present
Member, Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies 2013 present
Balázs Apor, The Stalin Cult in East Germany and the Making of the Postwar Soviet Empire, 1945-1961, Review of The Stalin Cult in East Germany and the Making of the Postwar Soviet Empire, 1945-1961, by Alexey Tikhomirov , The Stalin Cult in East Germany and the Making of the Postwar Soviet Empire, 1945-1961, 51, (6), 2023, p146-148 , Review, PUBLISHED
Balazs Apor, Láthatatlan tündöklés - Rákosi Mátyás kultusza a sztálinista Magyarországon (1945-1956), Budapest, Jaffa kiadó, 2022, 1 - 406pp, Book, PUBLISHED
1949: A Rajk per. A sztálinizmus politikai erőszakkultúrája in, editor(s)Ferencz Laczó and Bálint Varga , Magyarország globális története, 1869-2022, Budapest, Corvina kiadó, 2022, pp258 - 262, [Balázs Apor], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Írország in, editor(s)Gusztáv Kecskés D. and Tamás Scheibner , Egy világraszóló történet. Az 1956-os magyar menekültválság kézikönyve, Budapest, Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközpont, Történettudományi Intézet, 2022, pp313 - 326, [Balázs Apor], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
The "Trianon Trauma" and the Return of the Cult of Strongmen in Hungary in, editor(s)Laura P. Z. Izarra and Thiago M. Moyano , Transatlantic crises of democracies: Cultural approaches, São Paulo, Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade de São Paulo, 2022, pp23 - 47, [Balázs Apor], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  URL
Balazs Apor, Review of Ruler Personality Cults from Empires to Nation-States and Beyond: Symbolic Patterns and Interactional Dynamics, by Kirill Postoutenko and Darin Stephanov , The Russian Review, 81, (3), 2022, p592-594 , Review, PUBLISHED
Balázs Apor and John Paul Newman, Balkan Legacies: The Long Shadow of Conflict and Ideological Experiment in Southeastern Europe, West Lafayette, Indiana, Purdue University Press, 2021, Book, PUBLISHED  URL
From heroic lion to streetfighter: Historical legacies and the leader cult in twentieth-century Hungary in, editor(s)Susan Grant and James Ryan , Revisioning Stalin and Stalinism: Complexities, Contradictions, and Controversies, London, Bloomsbury, 2020, pp93 - 109, [Balazs Apor], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Balázs Apor, Review of Stalin and the fate of Europe: the post-war struggle for sovereignty, by Norman M. Naimark , Cold War History, 20, (2), 2020, p246-248 , Review, PUBLISHED  DOI  URL
Balázs Apor, Review of Enyhülés és emancipáció [Détente and emancipation], by Csaba Békés , Hungarian Historical Review, 9, (1), 2020, p169-172 , Review, PUBLISHED
  

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Balázs Apor, It's Only a Joke, Comrade! Humour, Trust and Everyday Life Under Stalin Jonathan Waterlow, Oxford: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018., Review of It's Only a Joke, Comrade! Humour, Trust and Everyday Life Under Stalin, by Jonathan Waterlow , Revolutionary Russia, 38, 2025, Review, PUBLISHED
Balázs Apor, Review of Klots, Yasha Yakov: Tamizdat. Contraband Russian Literature in the Cold War Era., Review of Klots, Yasha Yakov: Tamizdat. Contraband Russian Literature in the Cold War Era., by Yasha Klots , H-Soz-Kult, 2024, Review, PUBLISHED
Balazs Apor, Memories and Identities in Central and Eastern Europe, 8-9 May 2015, 2015, Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, Meetings /Conferences Organised, PUBLISHED
Balazs Apor, Man Amidst Inhumanity": THE CENTENNIAL OF THE BIRTH OF RAOUL WALLENBERG, 12 September 2012, 2012, Trinity College Dublin, Meetings /Conferences Organised, PUBLISHED
Balazs Apor, Nineteen Fifty Sixes": Resistance and Memories in the Eastern Bloc, 7 October 2011, 2011, Trinity College Dublin, Meetings /Conferences Organised, PUBLISHED

  


Award Date
M.A. (Dubl.) - Trinity College Dublin 2012
I am a historian of 20th Century Central and Eastern Europe with a particular interest in the history of communism in the region. My broad research interests embrace the social and cultural history of communism, the formulation and transmission of myths and ideologies in a communist context, and the popular reception of communist political systems. I am an expert on the symbolic dimensions of sovietisation in Eastern Europe after World War II with an emphasis on the history of communist leader cults ("the cult of personality"). In my publications on the subject, which includes a monograph, two edited volumes and several articles/book chapters, I have analysed the construction, popular perception, and the collapse of leader cults, using Hungary as my main case study. My current research is related to the history of resistance and opposition to communist rule in Eastern Europe. I am currently involved (as CO-PI) in the Horizon2020 project COURAGE (Cultural Opposition - Understanding the Cultural Heritage of Dissent in the Former Socialist Countries) which explores the history of cultural opposition to communism from the perspective of the collections that were created by former oppositionists. I was the lead editor (and one of the authors) of the main publication that grew out of the project (The Handbook of COURAGE) in 2018. Apart from publishing books, articles and book chapters in English and Hungarian, I have organised 5 conferences and workshops in 3 countries and institutions in the past, participated in over 30 international conferences, and have applied successfully for research funding to various organisations, including the Irish Research Council, and the European Commission. My research plans for the future are related to the historical legacies of communism and will include (amongst others) the editing of a book that analyses the legacies of war and dictatorship in the Balkans in the 20th century.