ESTONIA’S GEOPOLITICAL SITUATION AS FOUND IN ISTVÁN CSEKEY’S WORKS

Abstract

Professor István Csekey (1889–1963) was a prominent figure in Hungarian and European law during the twentieth century. Other than his significant academic contributions, Csekey played a defining role in promoting relations between Hungary and the nations of Estonia as well as Finland during the interwar period. In Estonia, he furthered awareness of the Hungarian state and culture via academic, educational and journalistic means while familiarizing Hungarian audiences with Estonia through his works and lectures. Today, István Csekey’s efforts have been largely forgotten, a state that is undeserved given the important role this noteworthy scholar filled in expanding interwar, Hungarian society’s knowledge of Estonia. As the discipline of Finno-Ugric Studies seeks new alternatives in a world of dynamically fluctuating relations among the nations of Estonia, Finland and Hungary, it grows even more urgent for today’s scholars to reexamine what precedents were set and what eminent works were achieved by those who went before us.