Ilona Borsai

Ilona Borsai (10 April 1924 – 8 July 1982) was a Romanian-born Hungarian musicologist, music historian, folk music researcher, choir director and high school singing teacher. She was also a collector of the melodies of the Coptic religion and the Egyptian musical tradition.

Career She was born in Cluj, Romania In 1942, she graduated from the Regnum Marianum Girls' High School. She earned a teaching certificate in Latin-Greek-French at Bolyai University in 1946. Between 1947 and 1948, she was a student of folklore and pedagogy at the Hungarian State Academy of Music in Cluj. After that, she moved to Budapest to continue her studies and in 1951, she earned a degree in music teaching and conducting, and continued her studies in 1961 in musicology at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Between 1951 and 1956, she was a folk music performer at the Ethnographic Department of the Institute of Folk Art. Between 1961 and 1974, she worked in the Folk Music Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Collections Hungarian folk song from Hollókő, collected by Ilona Borsai in 1963. Her collections primarily covered the melodies of the Coptic liturgy.

According to one source: "Her pioneering research into the details of the historical, analytical, and liturgical significance of Coptic music opened the field of Coptic musicology and defined its direction. Her contribution has had an impact not only on Coptic studies but also on all research concerning music whose historical roots have been transmitted through the centuries by oral tradition."

Personal life Her paternal grandparents were: Áron Borsai 1866–1942 (until 1900 Áron Wettenstein) a doctor, and Laura Zimmermann. Her maternal grandfather: Sándor Herz (1875–1939) was a dentist. Her father's sister and her aunt were Mária Borsai (1906–1990), a storyteller and ethnographer, and Andrásné Huszár Borsai Piroska. Her mother's brother, Ottó Herz (1894–1976), was a pianist. Her brother was Endre Borsai, a mechanical engineer.

Selected recordings Dádili's Swallow. Folktales and Children's Games from Galgamács (Moldován Domokossal; Budapest, 1981) Christmas in Galgamács: Christmas and New Year's customs, folk songs, nursery rhymes, folk games in Galgamács (Budapest, 1987)

Memberships Borsai was a member of the Coptic Archaeological Society, the Hungarian Ethnographical Society, the Association of Hungarian Musicians, the Hungarian Society of Studies of Antiquities, the International Association of Hungarian Studies, the Hungarian Kodály Society and the International Association of Coptic Studies.