The Origins of Tusványos: Seeding Democracy in the Wake of Communism

This paper recounts how a network of young democrats from Hungary, Great Britain and Romania helped shape the political awakening of East Central Europe in the late 1980s and how, during the heady but chaotic days following the Romanian Revolution of 1989, they conceived the Bálványos (now the Tusványos) Summer University—now a vast and significant cultural and political festival, which held its 34th edition in 2025.

Drawing on David Campanale’s personal archive and his collaboration with Fidesz activist Zsolt Németh and doctor Miklós Szabó, this paper traces how clandestine exchanges, youth declarations, and revolutionary encounters with Transylvanian students led to the first edition in 1990.