FOREWORD
In multi-ethnic Transylvania, the Armenian community is like yeast in bread. Members of the Armenian community are always and everywhere at the heart of major and noble projects that serve the good of the host nation and the local community. This is especially true in the case of Dr. Czakó József of Târgu Mureș, who, on his mother’s side, was a descendant of the Armenian Korbuly family of Transylvania.
Among the objectives of the Armenian-Hungarian Cultural Association from Târgu Mureș is the research and presentation of this immense heritage, so that our contemporaries and the city may regard the Armenian community as a valuable asset. In memory of Dr. Czakó József and his maternal relative, the writer Petelei István, the association placed a commemorative plaque on the building where they lived on August 26, 2023. After this, 75 years later, the guestbook of the Czakó Sanatorium, this immense treasure came to light, faithfully preserved by Imreh Ernő and his family. His children—Zsuzsa, Erzsébet, and Katalin—recall the story as follows:
Dr. Imreh Ernő Lajos (Chibed, October 23, 1921 – Târgu Mureș, May 6, 2005), former legal advisor to the Sugar Factory in Târgu Mureș, began his legal studies in Budapest. Due to the outbreak of World War II, he continued his university studies in Cluj-Napoca.
Due to his father’s untimely death, he became the family’s sole provider, which is why he was not drafted into the army. He worked at the “Hangya” Cooperative, and during his vacations he volunteered as a doorman at the Czakó Sanatorium. In this capacity, he was in
charge of the hospital’s guestbook. During nationalisation, everyone salvaged whatever they could from the hospital. Our father took the visitor registry with him, kept it his entire life, and thus preserved it for posterity.
We always knew that this guestbook was important to our father, so we, his children, have continued to keep it. In one of the issues of the magazine Magyarörmény Élő Örökség, Ms. Graur Márta, who began her professional career at the Czakó Sanatorium, wrote an article about the history of the institution. She issued a call to readers, asking those who have any memories related to the sanatorium to send them to the magazine’s editorial office. In response to this appeal, we have unearthed the book we have been preserving and are happy to share it with the public.
We thank the family for preserving this valuable legacy of the past, which represents a beautiful chapter in our city’s history and a fine example of peaceful coexistence among nations and faiths.
The Editors
Târgu Mureș, March 15, 2026