Assembled by Michael Simon during his research on Hungarian photography, this extensive collection of photographs documents the development of the medium with a range of photographic processes and the history of the art form in Hungary. Through photography the collection also documents Hungary's tumultuous history over the course of almost 150 years.

Michael Simon, collector, art historian and photographer, was born in 1936 in Budapest, Hungary. His father died during World War II, and he and his mother emigrated to the United States in 1956. He studied at the Technical University of Budapest and Pennsylvania State University. Michael Simon married his wife, Carol in 1961. Simon worked in advertising as an editorial photographer before accepting a position as professor of art at Beloit College, Wisconsin, in 1968 where he taught courses on photography. Simon then earned his Masters of Fine Arts from Rochester Institute of Technology and eventually became chairman of the department of Art & Art History at Beloit. During a sabbatical from Beloit College in 1977, Simon began his project to comprehensively research the history of Hungarian photography. He interviewed photographers and visited many libraries and museum collections, nationally and internationally. Over 25 years, his research resulted in a significant collection of photographs by Hungarian photographers. Often the photographs were gifts from an artist or an institution. Simon's research culminated in the publication of his book, Összehasonltó Magyar Fotótörténet.

29.3 Linear Feet (38 boxes, 1 flat-file folder)

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