Arpad Kadarkay's Obituary
Arpad, known to most as Arpi, peacefully passed into a new life with his beloved wife, Leone, who preceded him on May 25, 2015. Arpi and Leone met on a blind date and married June 24, 1962 in New Westminster, Canada. Arpad taught Political Science at the University of Puget Sound from 1980 until his semi-retirement as he continued his scholarly work and research.
Born in Hungary, he was a great patriot to his adopted country and her freedoms. In post World War II Hungary under Communist Soviet control, Arpad was an outstanding student in the gymnasium (secondary school) in Esztergom, yet his university application was returned as “class alien, unqualified” because a male relative had been the village mayor—not proletariat enough. Arpad was forced to become a miner in the coal pits of Dorog and Csolnok, and in his memoirs and conversations he vehemently referred to them as “the pits of hell.” During the years 1954-1956, he was a conscript in the Soviet controlled Hungarian Army. Arpi deserted to fight against the Soviets in November 1956 when Hungarian revolutionaries rose against Communism. When the Soviets crushed the freedom fighters and sought out the revolutionaries for death or imprisonment, Arpi escaped Hungary and arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia, in March 1957. In Canada, he taught himself English and worked the graveyard shifts at Eburne Saw Mills, Vancouver, while he earned Double Honors at the University of British Columbia,
1958-1963. He earned a fellowship and his MA in Political Science at UC Los Angeles, 1963– 65, and a PhD in Political Philosophy, UC Santa Barbara, 1965–1971. He is Emeritus Professor of Politics and Government at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma.
During his academic career, Arpi spent many years researching György Lukács on IREX Fellowships. His publications include George Lukács: Life, Thought, and Politics (Oxford:
Blackwell, 1991), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. The Lukács Reader (Blackwell,
1995), Human Rights in American and Russian Political Thought (University Press of America,
1982),and an English translation of Journey in North America, 1831, by Sándor Bölöni Farkas (Santa Barbara, 1978). In addition, he wrote numerous articles for the Los Angeles Times. His journals span a lifetime as an eyewitness to history. And his memoirs are published in the Hungarian Review.
Survived by his three children, Andrea Pratt (Larry Pratt), Arpad Kadarkay Jr., Marcella
Middleton (Vito Mariano); six grandchildren, Nichole, Ciera (Wilbur Sedar), Tyler, Chelsea, Desiree (Bryn Westfall), Jason, and two great-grandchildren, Madisynn, and Lana. He lived a full and beautiful life, and peacefully joined his wife, “My beloved spoke and said to me, "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me."
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