Imre Kiss

We say farewell to Imre Kiss, director emeritus of the Hungarian Museum of Commerce and Hospitality, and a member of the BGE KVIK Pro Gastronomia award committee.

Imre Kiss worked as the director of the Hungarian Museum of Commerce and Hospitality between 2004 and 2020. Numerous exhibitions and publications are associated with his name, and thanks to his organizational and leadership activities, he successfully relocated and renewed the museum twice. Under his leadership, the museum became a “market leader” in temporary and traveling exhibitions within the Hungarian museum sector, not only domestically but also internationally, while enriching the institution’s portfolio with a rich cultural offering. In recognition of his work, he received the Podmaniczky Award in 2012.

During his museum career, he curated more than 30 exhibitions, organized a traveling exhibition entitled Soda Water, a Hungarian Cult Drink, and published a book under the same title. Through his work, he sought to maintain Hungarian gastronomic culture by balancing the preservation of traditions with emerging trends in a manner fitting the spirit of the time.

Imre Kiss’s activities as museum director were connected in several ways to our faculty’s tourism and hospitality program. He always welcomed our students and instructors to current gastronomy-related exhibitions and demonstrations, and as a conscientious member of the Pro Gastronomia award committee established at the faculty, his work is recognized; he was a member from the very beginning. In 2019, as one of the responsible organizers for the professional support of the KVIK50 jubilee series celebrating the faculty’s fiftieth anniversary, he organized the exhibition held by the Hungarian Museum of Commerce and Hospitality in the university’s Alkotmány Street building. The exhibition captured events of the past fifty years on five panels. Its aim was to present scenes and events from various decades, with a focus on student and faculty life as well as events. As a dedicated supporter of Hungarian gastronomy, he was from the beginning a member of the Gundel Károly Award Committee established by the Hungarian Hospitality Association.

In addition to numerous professional, cross-disciplinary, and gastronomic awards, in 2020, in recognition of his outstanding career in museum work, he received the Móra Ferenc Award, the highest state professional honor available to museum professionals. His retirement in 2020 did not diminish his commitment and enthusiasm for the museum profession.

His death is an irreplaceable loss for his beloved museum and the entire professional community.