In Memoriam, Dr. George Szabó
24 April 1921- 3 July 2011

Dr. George Szabó (Nagyapu) died peacefully, on Sunday July 3
at Catholic Memorial Home in Fall River, MA.

He is survived by his former wife, 3 children: Tony Szabó (Modesto, CA), Emily Peel (Tiverton, RI) and Katy Bishop (Nahant, MA), 7 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. He formerly lived in Budapest, Hungary; Nahant, MA and Tiverton, RI.

Born in Budapest, Hungary on 24 Apr 1921 to Zoltán and Emilia (Magarasevics) Szabó. He earned a B.S. from Pázmány Univ. (1943) in Budapest, M.S. from Univ. of Birmingham (1951), and Ph.D. from Univ. College London (1957). A biologist, his career began as lecturer at Pázmány Univ. (1944-47).

During World War II , Dr. Szabó was active in the Hungarian resistance, he was later forced to flee the Communist Secret Police after the war. He escaped to Germany in 1947, after 8 months in hiding, eventually finding his way to England where he married in 1953 and completed his graduate studies under Nobel Laureate Sir Peter Medawar.

In 1958, he moved to the US to take an appointment at Emory Univ., as Asst. Prof. of Anatomy. By 1959, he was a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Mass. General Hospital. He was named a Senior Associate in Oral Biology at Harvard School of Dental Medicine in 1977, retiring in 1987. After his retirement, he remained an active teacher of anatomy, histology and embryology at Tufts Medical and Dental Schools, Boston University, Wheaton College, as well as the Roxbury and Massasoit Community Colleges. He also spent a year teaching at the American University of the Caribbean in Montserrat. He participated in 90 international conferences, authored over 200 scientific articles and book chapters, and was honored to serve on the Nobel Prize nominating committee in 1986.

In 1995 he received the Hungarian Presidential Recognition Award for his resistance work during the war. His last lecture was given at 80 years of age after a long career touching many lives. A devout Catholic and member of Opus Dei, daily worship and prayer were a joy to him. He also loved classical music and was an avid historian. He was loved by many and will be missed.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to foodforthepoor.org in honor Nagyapu's love of the Caribbean. Mass will be celebrated at St. Theresa's Church, Tiverton on Sat. July 9 at 11 a.m. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.

George's life in Pictures

George was born in Budapest, Hungary on 24 April 1921, to Zoltán and Emilia (Magarasevics) Szabó. His father, Zoltan, was a noted biologist and zoologist and Director of the Botanical Gardens in Budapest. George grew up in a house on the grounds of the Botanical Gardens.