György Pál Demény: A Look Back at a Demographic Titan
Obituary of a Great Mind
Well, folks, it’s a bit of a somber day as we pay tribute to György Pál Demény, the demographer and economist who passed away at the ripe old age of 92. Quite the run, isn’t it? It’s the sort of lifespan we all aspire to—unless, of course, you’re an introverted statistician, in which case, 92 years surrounded by graphs sounds like a real nightmare of extended Excel spreadsheets!
Demény was no small fry in the world of modern demography; he was more like the Great White Shark—an apex predator among mere population fish. His tireless contributions to the field turned him into one of the best-known experts internationally. Teaching, lecturing, and even editing the defining journal of the profession, he was truly a demographic jack-of-all-trades.
A Life of Studies and Statistics
A graduate from the reformed high school in Debrecen and an aspiring economist, one could say Demény was destined to crunch numbers. His adventures really kicked off in the 1950s when, armed with nothing but his French vocabulary and a penchant for data, he turned a conference stint in Switzerland into a new life in Geneva. Talk about making a career move out of interpreting! Most of us struggle with choosing a restaurant; he was off redefining demographic studies.
The Princeton graduate wasn’t just sitting around sipping lattes; oh no! He went on to become a professor at the University of Hawaii—think less “hang loose” and more “hang graphs.” As the founding director of the East-West Population Research Institute, he certainly knew how to bridge the gap between sunrise yoga on the beach and the grim realities of demographic trends.
Leadership and Legacy
By 1973, he was the vice-president of the Population Council in New York. Now, that’s a title with gravitas—can you imagine the boardroom discussions? “Let’s analyze why no one wants to come to this meeting.” After fifteen years, he handed over the reins but continued to steer the ship as the senior associate and editor-in-chief of the Population and Development Review. If there’s anyone who knows how to retire productively, it’s Demény!
And what was he researching? Mortality tables, stable population models, and did we mention the heavy lifting of historical demography? It’s like the academic Olympics, and he was running in every event—just without the track suits and with a lot more statistics.
A Bit of Homecoming
It’s rather ironic that he could only return to Hungary for the first time in the 1980s—just when everyone was throwing out the welcome mat, or should we say retracing a long-lost path back to Hungarian joys of goulash and friendly debates about whether it’s “demography” or “demographics.” After the regime change, he added “Hungarian citizen” right next to “American”—like collecting stamps, but much, much smarter.
A Legacy To Remember
Awards? Oh, you better believe he’s got a collection! The Central Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit with a star, the Hungarian Order of St. István, and a seat at the Demographic Round Table. It’s like the Oscar of demography, but hopefully with less backstage drama and more pie charts.
Now he’s gone, but his life’s work remains pivotal, especially as we peer into the crystal ball that is our population’s future. If you ever find yourself lost in the world of demographics and feel overwhelmed—just remember, it’s all just numbers waiting for a proper punchline, and who knows, maybe it’ll inspire the next great stand-up act about how terrified we are of baby boomers and millennials procreating!
Final Thoughts
So, here’s to György Pál Demény—a demographer with a keen sense of the pulse of society, a man who could probably turn the complexities of population statistics into something approaching entertaining. He may be gone, but boy, did he leave behind a legacy that’s going to be hard to follow. Here’s hoping the next generation of statisticians step up to the plate with the same gusto!
Source, photo: MTI
György Pál Demény, demographer and economist, died at the age of 92. One of the best-known international experts in modern demography died on Friday. The demographer taught and lectured worldwide, as well as edited the defining journal of the profession. He received several awards in his life, and in 2023 Katalin Novák, the head of state at the time, chose him as one of the members of the Demographic Round Table. His funeral will be arranged later.
György Pál Demény graduated from the reformed high school in Debrecen, then continued his studies at the university of economics, and from 1955 he was an employee of the population statistics department of the Central Statistical Office (KSH).
Thanks to his knowledge of the French language, at the beginning of 1957 he went to a conference in Switzerland as an interpreter for one of his bosses, from which he did not return. He lived and studied in Geneva for a while and then moved to the United States.
He received his doctorate in economics from Princeton University, specializing in population studies and demography. Educated at Princeton University and then at the University of Michigan, he later became a professor at the University of Hawaii and the founding director of the East-West Population Research Institute in Honolulu.
From 1973, he was the vice-president of the Population Council in New York, and then he also won the position of director of the newly established demographic research institute, the Center for Policy Studies. In 1986, he was elected the first non-North American president of the Population Association of America.
After fifteen years, he stepped down from his leadership position, but continued to work as a senior associate and editor-in-chief of the professional journal he founded in 1975, the Population and Development Review. In addition, he taught and lectured all over the world, edited the defining journal of the profession, and assisted the work of the UN, the World Bank and other international organizations as an expert. He retired in 2012.
Only after the regime change did he become a Hungarian citizen again
He was able to return to Hungary for the first time in the 1980s, and after the regime change, he became a Hungarian citizen as well as an American. In 2001, he was elected an external member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Shortly after his retirement, he moved to Budapest with his wife.
His main research areas are mortality tables, stable population models, estimation procedures for the analysis of demographic processes in data-deficient countries, historical demography, the relationships between population change and economic growth and their political implications.
In 2017, György Pál Demény received the Central Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit with a star (civilian category). In 2018, he was awarded the Hungarian Order of St. István. In 2023, Katalin Novák, the head of state at the time, chose her as one of the members of the Demographic Round Table.
Source, photo: MTI
