Albert Berzeviczy

At the initiative of the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB), the BOM Scholarship Program has borned the name of Albert Berzeviczy since 2020.

One hundred years after Budapest was unable to host the 1920 Summer Olympic Games due to the defeat in World War I, the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) proposed and the board of trustees of the BOM Foundation, which acts as MOB’s strategic partner, accepted the scholarship program. In operation since 2014 it would bear the name of Albert Berzeviczy who was the first president of the MOB.

Dr. Albert Berzeviczy, beginning in 1884 as an advisor on education and religious affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Kálmán Tisza and later as administrative state secretary of the ministry, made it his personal mission to extend physical education to all schools in the country. He also participated in the founding of the Hungarian Gymnastics Association. In support of the development of Hungary's scientific, educational and sports life, he served as Minister of Education and Religion between 1903 and 1905 in the Tisza cabinet and from 1905 until his death in 1936. He was the longest-serving president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, who was working tirelessly throughout his career.

In 1895 – under Berzeviczy’s leadership – the Hungarian Olympic Committee was established. As its first president, he not only ensured that Hungary would participate in the first modern Olympic Games, but also that Hungarian athletes would compete not under the banner of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but as representatives of the Kingdom of Hungary. At the 1896 Athens Summer Games, seven Hungarian athletes competed in six disciplines winning a total of six Olympic medals and placing 6th in the unofficial medal table.

Albert Berzeviczy was a dedicated advocate for bringing the Olympic Games to Budapest. In 1895, when it seemed that Athens might not be able to host the first Summer Olympics due to financial difficulties, he worked to have Budapest take over as the host city in place of the Greek capital. In 1911, as President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Berzeviczy hosted the 14th Congress of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the Academy’s headquarters on Széchenyi Square, where it was announced that the Hungarian capital would bid to host the 1916 Olympic Games.

A year later the IOC decided to award the 1916 Summer Games to Berlin and made a preliminary decision that Budapest would host the 1920 Olympics. On 20^th if June in 1914 at its session in Paris, the IOC confirmed this decision. Eight days later in Sarajevo, Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand which was triggering World War I. Unfortunately, it ultimately pushed the prospect of hosting the Olympics far out of Budapest's reach.

As one of the war’s defeated nations, Hungary was not even allowed to participate in the Olympic Games held in Antwerpen between April 20 and September 12 in 1920. Instead, public attention in Hungary was consumed by the Treaty of Trianon.

"Albert Berzeviczy, the first president of the Hungarian Olympic Committee and then-head of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, firmly opposed Vienna's intention in July 1914 to have the Austro-Hungarian Empire declare war on Serbia. History has proven him right. Had there been no World War I, Hungary would now be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first Olympic Games in Budapest instead of the Treaty of Trianon. Berzeviczy’s impactful work in the fields of sport and education is exemplary. His life and legacy left a significant mark on the adoption and promotion of the Olympic values in Hungary. For this reason, the Hungarian Olympic Committee found it fitting to propose naming the scholarship program operated by the BOM Foundation after him. In our view, this helps further elevate the prestige of this internationally unique organization," said Krisztián Kulcsár, former president of the Hungarian Olympic Committee.

The “BOM for Hungarian Sport” Public Benefit Foundation — strategic partner of both the Hungarian Olympic Committee and the Hungarian Paralympic Committee since 2018 — has been supporting the academic studies of young Olympic and Paralympic athletes through its scholarship program since 2014. The “Albert Berzeviczy Scholarship” is available to applicants who plan to pursue higher education while continuing their elite athletic careers.

The primary goal of the program is to provide financial support for athletes preparing for the Olympics or Paralympics, who are also engaged in college, university or advanced vocational training. The scholarship enables recipients to lay a solid foundation for their post-athletic lives, ensuring that the qualifications they earn during their studies can support a successful civilian career once their time in professional sport comes to an end.