Zoltán Ólmosi graduated from the Eötvös Loránd University with a degree in German Language and Literature, History and Political Science. After completing his studies, he taught at the Kossuth Lajos High School in Pesterzsébet, and then, until 1995, he was a research fellow at the Institute of Political History. He defended his doctoral thesis in 1991 with a dissertation on the history of the Petőfi Circle. From 2003 until his retirement, he was archivist, chief archivist and chief adviser of the National Archives of Hungary.
In the framework of the “Open Archives” programme, he organised academic conferences and exhibitions, including the one on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Otto von Habsburg in 2012. He spoke at several conferences and panel discussions and was involved in the organisation and implementation of public cultural programmes at the National Archives. He was also active in the field of academic research, with a special focus on political and social history after 1945. He wrote numerous articles, studies, sourcebooks and chronologies of youth history covering this period.
He also took on editorial tasks for publications. Between 1979-1995, he edited the historical journal Múltunk (Our Past), and from 1989 to 1991 he was editor of the series “Fehér Foltok” (White Spots) in Magyar Nemzet. Among historical and archival journals: between 2003-2005 and then in 2009 he was editor of the journal Levéltári Közlemények (Archival Bulletins), between 2003-2005 and again between 2011-2018 he was copyeditor, editor and responsible editor of the journal Levéltári Szemle (Journal of Archives). From 2010 to 2016, he was editor-in-chief of the electronic resource journal ArchívNet, which focuses on 20th century history.
He was involved in education as well. From 1983 to 1987, he taught 20th century Hungarian history at the Faculty of Humanities of Eötvös Loránd University, and from 2013 to 2014 he was a lecturer, teaching the history of public administration, in the advanced courses on records management and archival assistance organised by the National Archives of Hungary.
Zoltán Ólmosi continued to work after his retirement. He was a collection fellow at the Otto von Habsburg Foundation, and was responsible for sorting records, preparing auxiliary documents and building databases. Together with Piroska Kocsis he edited our Foundation’s joint publication with the National Archives of Hungary, published by Corvina Publishing House, entitled Otto von Habsburg and the State Power.Archival Sources Relating to the Last Heir to the Hungarian Throne, which won the first prize in the category of professional publications in 2020 for “Archival Publication of the Year“.
Dr. Zoltán Ólmosi carried out his work as an archivist for several decades with high quality and exemplary dedication.
God rest his soul!
