Pllolo by Mu:ha,1 BalU PAUL BALOG, 1900-1982 At the Annual Meeting of the Society. Michael Bates addressed the following remarks to the memory of Paul Balog. "Dr. Paul Balog, one of the greatest names in Islamic numismatic scholar- ship in our time, died in Rome on November 6. 1982. He left to us fundamental works on every phase of his principal field of interest. the numismatic history of Islamic Egypt from the seventh to the sixteenth centuries. as well as numerous studies of other subiects. "Paul Balog was born in 1900 in Budapest and was trained as a physi- cian. In 1924 he went to Egypt, where he became Director of the Laboratory of the Italian Hospital, a position he held until his retirement in 1961. As a result of his long service, he was granted Italian cititenship, so that he could emigrate to Rome in 1964, where he lived until his death. "His long· standing interest in Orien- tal archaeology found wide scope in Egypt. In the early 1940s, under the influence of Marcel Jungfleisch. ;moth· er eminent Islamic numismatist, Ba· log's collecting interest began to narrow to Islamic numismatics. In 1949 he published his first numismatic article, on the method of manufacture of some small debased Egyptian coins he had found in the bazaar. Throughout his numismatic career, Balog's sympathy was always extended to such small. humble objects of billon, copper, or glass, and it was this special sympathy that led to many of his most original contributions. "Balog's first article was followed by a flood of works averaging two to four pcr year for the rest of his life, with several yet in press. After his death we received another manuscript for the Society's journal which has been accep· 2 ted and is likely to be his last publication. "His name is beSt known for his major catalogues, which wi.1I be stand- ard references for years to come, The first and second ... ·ere published by the Society: The Coinage of the MamlQk Sultans of EgyPt and Syn'a, NS 12, 1964, md Umayyad, 'Abbasid and Talrmid Glass Weights and Vessel Stamps, NS 13, 1976. His third monograph, The Coinage of the Ayyubid,s, was published by the Royal Numismatic Society in 1980. With these three works, he covered much of the numismatic history of Egypt from the Arab conquest to the Turkish conquest, and what his cata· logues did not include was touched upon in one or more of his articles, among which the most important are his early studies of mint technology, his listing of the issues of the Ikhshrdids, his corpus of the Arabic coinages of the Crusaders (written jointly with the late Jacques Yvon). his catalogue of the glass "jewns." as he called them, of the Fatimids, and his many other anicles on glass and bronze weights, In his laler years in Italy. he became interested in the Arab and Arabic Norman coinages of Sicily. producing several important <:ontributions on those series. "Many new discoveries are attribut< able to his keen mind and eye. but he was not concerned only with reports of novelties. His broad surveys and cor· puses are indispensible bases for Stu- dents of any aspect of medieval Egyp- tian coinage and monetary history. "Balog's many numismatic recogni, tions include Honorary Membership of the International Numismatic Commis- sion, the medals of the Royal Numisma- tic Society and the Fran{aise de Numismatique, as well as the Ar<:her M. Huntington Medal and Corresponding Membership in the ANS. both in 1972.. "Balog's lasl illness began in May. when he travelled with friends from Rome by car to Budapest for his firsl visit in over 40 years. The trip was more than his heart could bear. and he had to spend his time in Budapest in bed. Not by coincidence, his visit to Budapest came at the same time as the annual meeting of the Bureau of the Interna- tional Numismatic Commission. which I attended, so that I was fortunate enough to spend much of those few days with him. Although gasping for breath, he could not resist long conversations about his beloved numismatics. includ· ing plans and questions for his future research. After flying back to Rome, he recovered somewhat over the summer, but never regained his health. His death six months later was not a surprise, but nevertheless a great loss to all who knew him. He will be remembered by, us not only for hIS great contributions to numismatic scholarship, but also for his sweet unassuming personality and his sympathetic interest in the work of his colleagues. "Balog's magnificent collection of glass weights was donated to the Society in 1974 and 1975. As a result of those donations, he was eligible for designation as a Benefactor of the Society, but his modesty consistently prevented him from accepting this recognition. I am glad to be able to announce that this omission has been remedied by the Society's Council, so that Balog's name will soon he incised in slone in our entranceway. The desig. nation does us more honor than we can dohim. "I would like to ask that we all stand for a moment of silence in tribute to a great personality and a great numisma- tist." MANUSCRIPT COMPETITION ANNOUNCED The Royal Belgian Numismatic Soci- ety will award its Quadrennial Prize to the author of a scientific, original. unpublished manuscript relating to numismatics or sigillography. The pa, per must be at least 100 typewritten pages 1I1 length and may be written 1Il French. Dutch, English or German. Entries must be submitted to the RBNS by November 1. 1984, and the pri:r:e, amounting to 40.000 bfr. will be awarded in 1985. Further information and application procedures may be obtained by writing Dr Maurice Colaen. Chairman, RBNS, Av Winston Churchill 58, Bte.17, 1180 Brussels. Belgium. EXHIBIT HALLS CLOSING The Society's West Hall will be dosed to the public immediately following the Spring MeetlRg on April 9, The interior of the hall will be completely dismantled to make way for the new display units being constructed for The World of Coins, which opens September 10. The East Hall will be dosed from July 1 to prepare for installation of the Medallic Sculpture Exhibit which opens on October 1. Thanks to Stefan Heidemann