Éva Liptay

(1966-2022) 

Éva Liptay, head of the Egyptian Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, passed away last year at the age of 57 after a sudden illness. She was a quitely reserved but devoted person whose scholarly and museum work earned her recognition and respect. As a dedicated researcher of the Third Intermediate Period, particularly of coffins, she made significant contributions to the understanding of Egyptian funerary beliefs, practices and iconography. Her particular interest was in pictorial expressions of the rite de passage and the concept of liminality.

For more than a decade and a half, Éva managed the Egyptian Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts not less devotedly. She wanted to exploit the Egyptological, museological, and technical knowledge and possibilities of her own time to the fullest possible extent for the benefit of the collection, which she wanted to pass on to the next generation in a state of preservation and processing that was in line with the most recent standards. She paid particular attention to preservation, conservation, material analysis and display. She also developed a modern storage system. But more than anything, she loved to organise exhibitions, always tireless and never running out of new ideas.

She has also made it a priority to educate museum visitors and the general public through her informative articles and books – her proficient, clear, and fluent style made her particularly well suited to this task. Although the desire to be in the limelight was far from her personality, overcoming herself, she held lectures and guided tours of exhibitions, gave interviews when called upon – and she was often invited because she was a good speaker who could address the audience in an articulate and delightful way. She was widely known and loved.

Katalin Kóthay