Prof. Dr. György Berencsi was born in Budapest, 1941, into a medical dynasty. His father acted as an expert in the field of public health; her mother was a specialist in paediatrics and dentistry. His enthusiasm for the medical profession was inherited from his parents.

György Berencsi took his primary and secondary school studies in Püspökladány and sat in on  his final examination in 1959. He graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Medicine, Debrecen, in 1965. During his academic studies, he worked as a member of the Scientific Students Association in the Institute of Medical Biochemistry studying the RNA nucleotide sequence together with his consultant.

He began his medical career working in the Virus Laboratory of the Public Health Institute of  Hajdu-Bihar county where he learnt the basics of the classical viral diagnostics. In 1968, he started working at the Department of Virology of the National Institute of Public Health, Budapest, by performing studies with influenza and enteroviruses.

In 1973, he got a fellowship to study polyoma viruses at the Department for Virus Research of the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany.

After returning home in November 1974, he began to work at the Institute of Microbiology at the Semmelweis Medical University where he used genetic engineering methods in an adenovirus DNA model. During his work, he collaborated with medical and veterinarian research groups from Hungary and abroad.

In 1988, he was appointed Head of the Department of Virology at the National Institute of Public Health, Budapest. In addition to his managerial duties he did experimental work as well, mainly in the Laboratory for Enteroviruses, and acted as the Head of the National Reference Laboratory for Enteroviruses. He retired in 2006. However, he frequently visited the Department for a long time after his retirement.

He spoke English, Russian and German fluently. He held courses in several universities; education was his way of existence. He always provided interesting lectures and captivated his audience. His educational activity was recognized by his habilitation at Eötvös Loránd University and by receiving the title of Private-Docent from Semmelweis University and Honorary Professor from Szent István University.

Everybody - who could ever attend his lecture - knows that he never was a stickler for rules or patterns. He was a free thinking person, and force of habit, trend or fashion did never influence his scientific ideas and opinions. For generations of university students who frequently perceived microbiology as a collection of bald facts - , he made virology fascinating by his vivid lectures and striking elucidations. Everybody was enthralled by his open-minded thinking and the wide range of issues he was familiar with. He continuously inspired and supported generations of scientists by giving useful advice and illuminating new aspects. He helped them to get grants, to gain work experience abroad, or to earn academic degrees. He was well-known by the public at large, as he taught not only the specialists in microbiology, but he also revealed the mysteries of virology by his understandable interpretation for non-professionals, reaching them through various media. He was the author, editor and reader, respectively, for many books. He was an active member of the Hungarian Society for Microbiology (HSM); he served as Secretary-General of this Society from 1988 to 1993, and then, for 10 years, as Chair of the Virology Section. In 1994, he was honoured with the Manninger Award of HSM. His life-work was honoured with many other medals: Pro Sanitate Award 2001;Fodor József Award 2003; Plaquette for Public Health 2003; and he was rewarded with the Gold Cross of Distinction of the Republic of Hungary in 2005. The District XIII of Budapest awarded him honorary citizenship indicating his social recognition.

Despite of his many engagements, he undertook all professional or private problems and tried to find solution for them. He was conscious of the problems of bringing up children as he himself had got four children and seven grandchildren.

Dr. György Berencsi spent almost 50 years in the medical microbiological profession. He had countless achievements related to many kinds of viruses and published them in high-ranking journals. Several hundreds of references have been made to his publications from all over the world. He received international recognition for his role in the polio-eradication in Hungary. He was the major promoter of the Phare project whereby the long-expected BSL-4 Laboratory of Hungary was established.

Prof. Dr. György Berencsis scientific activity was obviously determinant for the development of the Hungarian virology.

                                                                                                             Dr. Mária Takács
                                                                                                   Head of Division of Virology

Publications of Dr. György Berencsi