University mourns Katona GS' death

Second year graduate student Gabor Katona committed suicide on Jan. 20, Borough Police Lt. John Reading said.

University proctors found Katona, 32, at approximately 10 PM in his room in Lockhart Hall after receiving a call to check on the student. Proctors then contacted Public Safety who called in Borough Police.

Katona left no note, Reading said.

Borough Police contacted the Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad, though there was no need, Reading said.

"It's a horrible thing," Reading said. "It always is."

The last campus related suicide was in 1993 when a graduate student walked onto the train tracks at Princeton Junction.

After some difficulty working through the Hungarian embassy in Washington, Borough Police located and made contact with Katona's family at 6 p.m. Jan. 22. By working with Hungarian police, Reading said, officials will carry out their usual protocol to personally visit with the family in their home.

"Just like we do in the States," Reading said.

Katona's death has touched many in the University community as it mourns the death of the young scholar — industrious and upbeat by accounts of those who knew him.

Katona came to the University with several publications and degrees under his belt and had already established himself as a scholar in Hungary, said Michael Mahoney, the history graduate studies director.

Katona completed two masters' degrees in philosophy and art from Pecs University in Hungary and published seven books and numerous articles in Budapest.

In his second year at the University, Katona was doing research in the history of the "human" sciences, philosophy and sociology, Mahoney said.

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"We were all taken aback by the amount of reading that went into his papers. He was becoming famous for his footnotes," Mahoney said.

Mahoney recalled a particular presentation Katona gave in December about 19th-century psychoanalysis.

"But it wasn't only that he read a lot. He thought very hard about what he read. He brought an imaginative perspective on every subject he touched," he said.

As the University tries to assemble a formal memorial service involving Katona's family, school administrators and officials are reminding students of the counseling and religious support services available.

Dean of Religious Life Thomas Breidenthal, Chief Medical Officer Daniel Silverman, and other University officials met intimately with students of the history of science program to inform them of Katona's death. Officials held another meeting to inform students living in the area of Katona's dormitory.

Breidenthal emphasized that the University can help students contact spiritual leaders in the community for guidance.

"Around this particular tragedy, it's important to reach out to others and not to be isolated, seek out friends and mentors, teachers, family members," Breidenthal said.