“Central European Refugees in Republican China” by Matyas Mervay
Central European refugee communities in Republican China
RASBJ Members only event.
What: Matyas Mervay on Central European refugee communities in Republican China.
When: Tuesday 15th October 7pm Doors open 6:50
Where: Ambassador’s Residence, located by the East Gate of the Embassy of the Slovak Republic on Jianhua Road 建华路 (opposite the Consular Section of the Embassy of Singapore/新加坡大使馆签证处对面. – click here for Google Maps, here for Baidu Map and here for Baidu “Street View“)
Please note that entry via the West Gate (located on Ritan Lu/日坛路) will not be possible, we kindly ask all participants to enter via the East Gate only.
How much: Free (Members only)
RSVP Email communications.ras.bj@gmail.
DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR PASSPORT OR OTHER FORM OF PHOTO ID TO ENTER THE EMBASSY
About the lecture
Have you heard of the Shanghai Jewish refugees during World War Two? How about the Austro-Hungarian refugee soldiers in World War One? Did you know that their activities posed serious challenges not only to the Entente wartime espionage but also their internment to the Chinese authorities? This talk will introduce a project that aims to retrace, collect and make sense of the various evidence about the presence and roles that individuals and communities from the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s former territories took in China between 1912-1949. This presentation will also draw on some of the most recent primary sources from the People’s Republic concerning Central Europeans. These fresh discoveries come from Mátyás’ current (and ongoing) visits in the various archives across China.
About the Speaker
Mátyás Mervay is a Ph.D. Candidate at New York University’s Department of History. He earned his B.A. in History at the Eötvös Lóránd University (Budapest, Hungary) and his Master’s degree at Nankai University (Tianjin, China), majoring in Modern and Contemporary Chinese History. His M.A. thesis dealt with the internment of the Austro–Hungarian prisoners of war in China during World War I. His research was also published in academic journals both in Chinese and in English. Besides regularly presenting at scholarly conferences of both the East Asian and the Eastern European fields, Matyas has also been active in engaging with non-academic audiences by writing public history articles, blogging as well as giving interviews on China related topics
