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# ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

On the eve of the publication of the English version of this opus, I am delighted that this decade-long project has finally borne fruit. The Hungarian Research Institute of Canada was inaugurated in 1985 and is a Research Ancillary of the University of Toronto. Since its inception, the mandate of the Institute has been to support scholarship dealing with the Central European Region through research and disseminating of its results through publication.

The Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences made a substantial contribution to Hungarian history by the publication of the three-volume History of Transylvania. Having recognized the academic value of the original Hungarian version, our continued efforts resulted in the acquisition of the copyright for the English language publication. Accordingly, on behalf of the Institute, I would like to thank the editors and the authors for their cooperation in the publication of this important work for the English-speaking academic community.

In the publication of the History of Transylvania, we have found co-publishers; the Atlantic Research and Publications, Inc. and the East European Monographs series, whose capabilities, experience and interests compliment ours and has led to a highly successful co-operation in the past, namely the publication of István Bibó's selected works.

This introduction would be incomplete without acknowledging the support of many individuals and organizations that helped us realize our goal. In chronological order, we must thank the Canadai Magyarságért Foundation, its President Éva Sándor, Zsolt Balogh and Susan S. Szécsi, for their continuous support. We would also like to thank The Széchenyi Society of Canada and The Rákóczi Foundation of Canada, its founding chairman, Nicholas Korponay, who was a major supporter until his untimely death and his successor, Mr. Joseph Hamvas. I am truly grateful for the support of my esteemed colleagues who assisted this project during its long gestation period through their effort and financial aid: Levente L. Diosady, Tibor Fekete and Bennett Kovrig for his extraordinary effort in translating and editing this work. I would also like to specifically thank Béla W. Fejér and Géza Jeszenszky for their invaluable contributions. I would like to thank Béla K. Király for his enthusiasm and determination that were necessary for ensuring the project's completion. We are grateful to those supporters of the Institute, too numerous to mention, thus I must simply say thank you to all who have demonstrated their faith in the project through their financial and moral assistance.

Dr. Laslo J. Simon
President and Chairman
Hungarian Research Institute of Canada