Background
Nagy was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1921, discovered Scouting and went on to become an assistant Scoutmaster.
Nagy was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1921, discovered Scouting and went on to become an assistant Scoutmaster.
He attended the 4th World Scout Jamboree held in Gödöllő, Hungary in 1933. Nagy received a Masters in sociology and law, and a Doctor of Philosophy in political science. He studied for many years under the direction of child psychologist Jean Piaget.
A Swiss citizen of Hungarian origin, he was a sociologist, a historian, a Doctor of Political Science, a former journalist and the author of a number of books on politics. He was a graduate of the business administration School at the University of Geneva. Later, he became the Director of Study and Head of the Department of Research and Documentation at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.
Nagy was also a journalist and author
He was Foreign Editor of the Gazette de Lausanne. Internationally he was recognised as an authority on the problems of Eastern Europe and of Sub-Saharan Africa.
The books he authored included Imre Nagy, Katanga, Lenin and History of People"s Democracies. In 1965, he undertook a two-year critical study of the world Scouting movement around the world, sponsored by the Ford Foundation and appointed by the Graduate Institute of International Studies.
Nagy published the Report on World Scouting in June 1967.
In the course of the study, much data was compiled for the first time about worldwide Scouting, with many international trips made and countless interviews held. In the report, Nagy analysed and defined both the problems and strengths of World Scouting. The 1967 World Scout Conference accepted the Nagy Report with its many recommendations for the improvement of World Scouting and its reorganisation.
In 1968, WOSM invited him to put his recommendations into practice and appointed him to his WOSM post, for a three year term that eventually lasted 20 years.