“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.”

- Bertrand Russell

About László Bitó

László Bitó was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1934. In the communist dictatorship after WWII, his family was among the many thousands marked as bourgeoisie, reactionaries, enemies of the working class, and in 1951 they were deported to a small village in eastern Hungary. In ’54 László was drafted into a forced labour unit to work in a coal mine. In ’56 he and his comrades disarmed their guards to join the revolution, but when it was crushed he recognized that he could no longer live in the hopelessness of a returning dictatorship. Escaping from Hungary, he ended up in New York, where he earned a Ph.D. in Medical Cell Biology and Biophysics at Columbia University. He then joined Columbia’s Research faculty where his work led to the development of a new approach to the reduction of eye pressure that saved the sight of millions of glaucoma sufferers. Upon retirement from Columbia as Emeritus Professor, László Bitó returned to his native Hungary and has started a second career as a novelist and journalist.

Articles by László Bitó

For Easter and Passover Holy Days: who crucified Jesus?

László Bitó 8 April 2012

Preaching about love in the churches is not enough, as long as the words the worshippers read in their Bible turn them against people of other faiths and fill them with suspicion, dislike, loathing, hatred, aversion or revulsion. It is not enough to talk about tolerance as long as the holy scriptures set us apart.

The voice of liberal democracy needs to be preserved in Hungary

László Bitó 27 March 2012

When the Media Law of the authoritarian Hungarian government meets with strident criticism in the free press of the world, and from heads of established democracies, as a major attack on the freedom of speech, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his people ask for time, arguing against the avalanche of criticisms that no one should assume that the Media Council established in 2010 will abuse the unheard of powers with which it was endowed until it has shown an inclination to do so. Meanwhile they are eager to export their ideas.

Hungary's struggles for freedom and democracy

László Bitó 1 March 2012

The greatest concern with regard to EU criticism aimed at influencing the political course of Hungary is that without a good understanding of the political realities, even the best intentions may unintentionally play into the hands of Jobbik. Meanwhile Government statements are meant to convince those who are disturbed by the usurpation of power to give up all hope for the next forty years. Now the situation is more complex and in a way more precarious than in 1956.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie is a regular contributor to 50.50

Europe from the bottom up

European Union stars in Paris. Flickr/notarim. Some rights reserved.

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