Tibor Klaniczay was an internationally recognized Hungarian literary historian of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. He held high positions in academia throughout his long career. During the period of Stalinism in Hungary, he was secretary of the First Section of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and a key figure in the establishment of the Institute of Literary History in 1956. He played a prominent role in leading the Institute and creating a worldwide network for Hungarian Studies. He was also a leading scholar in Comparative Literature in Hungary and a primary critic of György Lukács’ theory of Realism. He was a formative figure in several disciplines, who renewed Hungarian scholarship on the aforementioned historical epochs. His son, Gábor Klaniczay, is a historian and former member of the democratic opposition. His daughter Júlia Klaniczay is an eminent art historian of nonconformist art under Communism and cofounder of Artpool.