János Berze Nagy

Born in Besenyőtelek in 1879, he came from a peasant family and began collecting folklore while still very young. He later studied at the University of Budapest, where he was influenced by the ethnographer Lajos Katona, and from the early 1900s onward he worked as a teacher while continuing his research.

Across his career, he gathered a remarkable range of Hungarian folk material, including songs, ballads, folktales, beliefs, and customs. He is especially remembered for his large-scale work Magyar népmesetípusok (Hungarian Folktale Types), which helped organize and classify the rich tradition of Hungarian storytelling.

He died in Pécs in 1946. Even today, he is regarded as an important figure in Hungarian ethnography and folklore scholarship because he combined careful field collecting with a deep respect for everyday popular culture.