Béla H. Bánáthy

Béla Heinrich Bánáthy (Bánáthy Béla; December 1, 1919 – September 4, 2003) was a Hungarian-American linguist, and Professor at San Jose State University and UC Berkeley.

Béla Bánáthy was born in 1919 in Gyula, Hungary, as the oldest of four sons.

His father Peter was a minister of the Reformed Church in Hungary and his mother Hildegard Pallmann was a teacher.

Peter Bánáthy had earned the honorary title Vitéz for his service during World War I, and Béla, as his oldest son, inherited the title.

When Bánáthy was about six years old, their family informally adopted Tamas Feri.

Tamas was about 13 years old and from a poor gardener's family.

Tamas took Bánáthy on his first overnight camp out with his patrol to a small forest near Gyula.

Bánáthy's father became the Scoutmaster of the "small scouts" troop (similar to American Cub Scouts).

When Bánáthy was nine years old, he became the troop leader.

The family moved about 84 km from Bánáthy's birthplace of Gyula, to Makó, Hungary, about 202 km southeast of Budapest.

He joined the regular scout program of the Hungarian Scout Association and "Csanad Vezer" Troop 92.

During the 1930s, the troop had more than 50 Scouts and 30 "small scouts".

They held their monthly troop meetings on Sunday in a large gimnazium and met weekly every Saturday as a patrol.

Bánáthy reported: "Our weekly patrol meetings focused on scoutcraft and Scout spirit and guiding us to move through the various stages of advancement in rank."

The Hungarian Scout program had four stages.

During the first three years, Bánáthy advanced three stages.

The last stage required Bánáthy to earn 25 merit badges.

This last stage was called Turul, after the mythical bird of Hungary.

From spring to fall, as weather permitted, the patrol had many outings.

Every summer the troop went on a two- to three-week long summer camp.

Bánáthy and his troop attended the 4th World Scout Jamboree in 1933.

Up until this time, he had intended to follow his father into the ministry, but changed his mind.

While at the Jamboree, Bánáthy briefly met Joseph Szentkiralyi, another Scout from Hungary.

Hungarian Sea Scout Paul Ferenc Sujan and American Maurice Tripp also attended.

More than 20 years later, these three men collaborated in helping Bánáthy build a leadership program for youth in the United States.

Also in 1933, Bánáthy attended the regional patrol leader training week at Hárshegy Training Park.

When Russia invaded Hungary in April 1945, he and his family fled to Allied-occupied Austria and lived in a displaced persons camp for six years.

In 1951, they emigrated to Chicago, sponsored by the Presbyterian church.

Within the year his former commanding officer suggested to the U.S. government that they hire Bánáthy as a Hungarian instructor at the Army Language School in Monterey, California.

While living in Monterey, he founded the White Stag Leadership Development Program.

His program gained national attention, and the Boy Scouts of America conducted research into incorporating leadership training into its programs.

The Boy Scouts of America's Wood Badge and junior leader training programs had until then focused primarily on Scoutcraft skills, not leadership.

William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt among others resisted the change.

After 20 years, Bánáthy left the renamed Defense Language Institute and went to work for the Far West Laboratory for Research and Development in Berkeley and later San Francisco.

He is known as founder of the White Stag Leadership Development Program, established the International Systems Institute in 1982, and was co-founder of the General Evolutionary Research Group in 1984.

He grew up in largely rural Hungary and served in the Hungarian military during World War II.

He retired from Far West in 1989 but maintained an active interest in social systems and science, including attending many conferences and advising students and others in those fields.

In 1992, he helped restart the Hungarian Scout Association within his native country.

In 2003, Bánáthy and Eva moved to live with their son Tibor in Chico, California.

After a brief and unexpected illness, Bánáthy died on September 4, 2003.