LIGETI, Lajos (Louis). Balassagyarmat/Nógrád 28.10.1902 — Budapest 24.5.1987. Hungarian Mongolian and Central Asian Scholar. Professor in Budapest. Son of János L. and Ilona Cseh. Educated in Gyarmat and Budapest. Studies of classical philology and of Turkish (Németh) at Budapest. Ph.D. 1924 Budapest. After further studies in Paris, of Sinology (Maspéro), Tibetan (Bacot), Turkic (Dény) and especially Mongolian (Pelliot), he conducted fieldwork in Inner Mongolia in 1928-30, and in Afghanistan in 1936-37, later on several visits to Mongolia. From 1932 taught Mongolian at Budapest University, from 1939 as Professor. In 1940-74 the first Professor of Central Asian Languages at Budapest. On occasions he was also in charge of teaching East Asian studies and Turkology, and he laid foundation to the teaching of Altaic studies at Szeged University (and donated his extensive private library there). From 1934 corresponding and 1947 ordinary member of Hungarian Academy.
Ligeti was very productive scholar, especially in Mongolian studies, where the Lamaist literature was among his central interests. In addition, he was a competent Turkologist. He had numerous students.
Publications: “La collection mongole Schilling von Canstadt”, TP 27, 1930, 119-178.
– Rapport préliminaire d’un voyage d’exploration fait en Mongolie chinoise, 1928-1931. 62 p. 12 pl. Budapest 1933; Sárga istenek, sárga emberek. Egy év Belső-Mongólia lámakolostoraiban. Budapest 1934.
– Catalogue du Kanǰur mongol imprimé. 1. 345 p. Bibl. Or. Hung. 3. 345 p. Budapest 1942-44.
– Edited: A Mongolok Titkos Története. Mongol Nyelvemléktár 3. 1964, 2nd ed. Histoire Secrète des Mongols. Monum. linguae Mong. coll. 1. Budapest 1971; Histoire Secrète des mongols. Texte en écriture ouigure incorporée dans la chronique Altan tobči de Blo-bzam ’bstan-’jin. Monum. li. Mong. c. 6. Budapest 1971; transl. into Hungarian: A Mongolok Titkos Története. 1962.
– Facsimile edition:: Le Subhāṣitaratnanidhi mongol. 124 p. Bibl. Or. Hung. 6. Budapest 1948.
– Edited: Trésor des Sentences. Subhāṣitaratnanidhi de Sa-skya paṇḍita. Mongol Nyelvemléktár 6. 1965, new ed. Monum. ling. Mong. coll. 4. Budapest 1973; Index verborum to the same. 339 p. Budapest 1973; tr. the same: Sza-szkja pandita: Kun-dga rgyal-mchan. A bölcsesség kincestára. 1984.
– Edited: Monuments préclassiques. 1. 170 p. Monum. ling. Mong. coll. 2. Budapest 1970; Index verborum to the same. 382 p.Budapest 1972; Monuments en écriture ’phags-pa. 170 p. Ibid. 3. Budapest 1972, index to the same. 373 p. Budapest 1973; Les Douze Actes du Bouddha, de Čhos-kyi ’od-zer. 184 p. Ibid. 5. Budapest 1974.
– Founder and editor of the AOHu 1-30, 1950-76, with numerous own articles, also elsewhere many articles in French and Hungarian.
– A magyar nyelv török kapcsolatai és ami körülöttük van. 1-2. Budapest 1977-79 (collected articles in Hungarian); A magyar nyelv török kapcsolatai a honfoglalás előtt és az Árpád-korban. Budapest 1986.
– “Repertoire du Kanjur mongol imprimé”, AOHu 41, 1987, 347-497.
– Edited: Le Damamūkonāmasūtra. 18+467 p. Budapest 1989.
Sources: F. Aubin, JA 276, 1988, 1-22; G. Kara, AOHu 41, 1987, 3-6 with photo; *Kl. Mylius, Jb. S.A.W. 1987-88 (1990), 197f.; *J. Pouilloux, CRAI 131, 1987, 479f.; *A, Róna-Tas, AOHu 65, 2012, 123-136; *K. Sándor, Lex. gramm. 1996, 575f.; Buddhist Studies Review 6:1, 1989, 48-50; bibliography in AOHu 15, 1962, 7-13, again, by *A. Pailik, AOHu 55, 2002, 5-23; Dutch Wikipedia with photo.
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