Press Kit

Miklos Saranszki was born in 1955 in Hungary (Budapest). He spent his childhood in the environment of his uncle, a world-famous violin maker and art collector Pal Saranszky, where he came into contact with several Hungarian painters.

He later graduated from Godollo University of Agricultural Sciences. He also worked as an agricultural engineer in Tunisia, Morocco and Israel. In the meantime, he developed the ability to understand art, which he learned with his uncle. Inheriting his uncle's art collection, he further increased his collection, which is located in his farm in Sajovelezd, in a picturesque environment. 

His livehood is based on his farming, which is based on a French Limousin beef cattle herd. His farm is a national demonstration and educational farm, an accredited practical training centre of Szent István University. 

His passion as a collector was not only focused on works of art, he is also very interested in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and its relics from the First World War. He has a museum of photos and slides from that historical period. The farm also has a library of 1,200 books, including also first editions of all of Molière’s works, from Isocrates in 1560.

His wife, Beata Bacso was born 1967 in Hungary (Debrecen) who is also the co-author of this book, she is a cultural historian and currently a PhD student at the Jewish Theological Seminary – University of Jewish Studies, who is engaged in the research of the hungarian-jewish writer Frigyes Karinthy, about which she published a book and several scientific articles. She supports her husband in his work as an art collector with his knowledge of cultural history, as she defined the scientific framework of this book as well.