Dr. Ágoston Trefort (pronunciation: a:gɔʃtɔn 'trɛfɔrt 7 February 1817 – 22 August 1888) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Religion and Education from 1872 until his death. He was the President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences from 1885.

Family

He was born into a Hungarian Catholic family of Walloon origin in Homonna,

Zemplén County Zemplén (, , , ) was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. The northern part of its territory is now situated in eastern Slovakia (Zemplín (region), Zemplín region), while a smaller so ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

(today

Humenné Humenné (; ; ) is a town in the Prešov Region ("kraj") in eastern Slovakia and the second largest town of the historic Zemplín region. It lies at the volcanic Vihorlat mountains and at the confluence of the Laborec and Cirocha Rivers. Na ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

). His great-grandfather worked as a lawyer in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, his medical officer grandfather came to Hungary in the 1770s. Ágoston's father was Ignác Trefort (1770–1831), a famous surgeon, and his mother was Tekla Beldovics (died 1829). They married in 1816, when Ignác's first wife died. They had three children: Ágoston, Antal (died in his

infancy In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of ...

) and István (born 1825, year of death unknown). On 14 March 1847 he married the Hungarian noble lady Ilona Rosty de Barkócz (1826–1870), who was the daughter of Albert Rosty de Barkócz (1779–1847), jurist, landowner, vice-ispán of the county of Békés (''alispán of Békés''), and Anna Eckstein de Ehrenbergh (1801–1843), member of the illustrious Hungarian noble family Rosty de Barkócz. His wife was also descendant of the ancient and prestigious medieval Hungarian noble Perneszy family, which died out in the 18th century. They had together three children – two daughter, Edit and Mária and a son, Ervin. Through his marriage he was the brother in law of Pál Rosty de Barkócz (1830–1874), a photographer,

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

, who visited

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, Mexico,

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and

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between 1857 and 1859. He was also brother in law of the

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

József Eötvös de Vásárosnamény (1813–1871), a poet, writer, and liberal politician, a cabinet minister, who married Agnes Rosty de Barkócz (1825–1913), his wife's sister.

Studies

He already spoke on the time of his grammar school studies in German, in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and in Slovak. Trefort lost his parents during the cholera epidemic of 1831. He found his way under

Countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Petronella Csáky's guardianship. He studied on the Lyceum of Eger, then he started his higher studies on the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

of the University of Pest. He learnt in English, in French and in Italian, thanking for his excellent gift for languages duly. Then he made his juridical practice at the district board on Eperjes. Trefort finished his studies at the age of eighteen. He started his first big Western European round trip by favour of the paternal heritage and the Csáky family in April 1836. He returned to Hungary in February 1837. Trefort passed his lawyer's exam with a distinguished result on 22 December 1837. He stood into a state service then, and chamber president Gábor Keglevich appointed him a free trainee at the

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

court chamber on 17 April 1838. Trefort became a member of the National Casino, where he made lot of friends and connections. Among others he got acquainted with József Eötvös here.

Political career

Trefort's interest turned into the direction of the literature in this time. He suggested to foundation of a Művészeti Egylet onto the nursing of the Hungarian fine arts. This was his first appearance before the publicity, and the work society, for which he was the first president, was the result of this. The

centralist Centralisation or centralization (American English) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning, decision-making, and framing strategies and policies, become concentrated within a particular ...

group formed in these times, notable members were Eötvös, Trefort and historian László Szalay. Trefort became a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences at the age of twenty-four. He participated in the works of the Industry Society and the Hungarian Trading Company. He was member of the

National Assembly of Hungary The National Assembly ( ) is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 199 (386 between 1990 and 2014) members elected to four-year terms. Election of members is done using a semi-proportional representation: a mixed-member m ...

of 1833/1844 as a delegate of Zólyom. He was selected to a member of a committee, which negotiated about the commercial affairs. He published for the Pesti Hírlap about actual political questions ( credit bank,

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

, tax, industrialisation). On 14 March 1847 Trefort married to Ilona Rostly, daughter of vice ispan Albert Rostly, so Trefort became Eötvös' brother-in-law, because Eötvös' wife, Ágnes Rostly was sister of Ilona. On 16 March 1848 (one day after the revolution broke out) he was appointed to the Vice-regency council's interim press policing department. He received officer rank in the militia of Pest. In the cabinet of Prime Minister

Lajos Batthyány Count Lajos Batthyány de Németújvár (; ; 10 February 1807 – 6 October 1849) was the first Prime Minister of Hungary. He was born in Pozsony (modern-day Bratislava) on 10 February 1807, and was executed by firing squad in Pest, Hungary, Pe ...

he served as state secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Trade. After murder of Ferenc Lamberg he emigrated to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, after that

München Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

with his family. They returned to home in September 1850. He lived in

Békés County Békés (, , ) is an administrative division (county or ''vármegye'') in south-eastern Hungary, on the border with Romania. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Csongrád-Csanád, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, and Hajdú-Bihar. The capital ...

separately, at the end of the 1850s he engaged in the county public affairs. Trefort founded the Békés County Economical Association. He appointed the county's first vice ispan on 11 December 1860, but he resigned from this position on 18 March 1861. In this same year he became a member of the National Assembly of Hungary again. Trefort supported the compromise with the Austrians, he was also between the promoters. After death of his wife he moved to Pest. When József Eötvös, his closely friend died in 1871, the cabinet offered Eötvös' ministerial position to him. He accepted the function with only second occasion, so Trefort became Minister of Religion and Education in 1872. He also served as Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Trade between 21 August 1876 and 5 December 1878.

Minister of Religion and education

He continued the development of the civil educational system. A ready program was not at his disposal, but he emphasized the importance of the educating the people. He created the ministry's ninth department, which dealt with the building cases. The commercial and industrial educational forms came into the foreground because of the development of the capitalism. The ministry preferred those types of school, which ones not onto human orbits, but foster onto industry, agriculture, trade. Trefort harmonized the public education with the social needs during second half of his ministerial term. Eötvös and Trefort's multi-faceted politics yielded the birth of the modern Hungarian higher education. Social political transformation being equal to the capitalist economic development roamed together with this, and the pressure of the economic interests. The society set up his claims opposite the higher education in connection with this. It was the turn of new institutions', departments', laboratories' organization, the change of a curriculum, the increase of the vocational standard as a result of all these. In 1872 the Polytechnikum became

Budapest University of Technology and Economics The Budapest University of Technology and Economics ( or in short ), official abbreviation BME, is a public research university located in Budapest, Hungary. It is the most significant university of technology in the country and is considered ...

, and the country's second university opened in Kolozsvár. Furthermore, new departments came into existence, the scientific and medical faculty buildings were built, the artistic higher educational institutions organized. He ascribed extraordinary significance to the

medical science Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pra ...

, the medical training and the

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

. With the increase of new buildings, new departments' foundation, the increase of the number of the laboratories, their equipment raised the modernisation (generally) of the higher education, particularly the standard of the medical training. The Műegyetem Múzeum's boulevard buildings, The University Library, the Faculty of Medical Science were made ready at this time, and along

Üllői út Üllői út (Üllői Avenue, lit. means "Road to Üllő", ) is a major transport artery in Budapest, Hungary. Üllői út is the longest avenue in Budapest. It is 15.6 km long and nearly perfectly straight. It starts at the edge of Inner Cit ...

the buildings of the Clinical Quarter. He multiplied the departments' number in the course of his work made on the space of the question of the education. He created new educational and exam order, a disciplinary regulation, he standardize the universities' organization. Moreover, he provided the opportunities of the school founding, professors with outstanding knowledge. With regard to the Faculty's of Arts development important result creating the institution of the seminars and the study time from three raising it to four years. Trefort reformed the teacher-training system in 1873. He united the training of the grammar school and secondary school teachers' training. In the interest of the correction of the standard he organized the teacher examining commission, provided the foreign scholarships. He ordered the regular keeping of the methodological meetings in the schools in the interest of the improvement of the teaching methods. the Act of 1883 took action on the conditions of the teacher qualification and the general requirements of the examinations. Trefort regulated the transition between the civil schools, high schools and the training colleges in his orders. He regulated the commercial schools' organization. Suggested it the industry student schools and central Industry School's erection. In connection with the national question the

Magyarization Magyarization ( , also Hungarianization; ), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in the Kingdom of Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, adop ...

political sketching characterize him, which is after his death, getting stronger turned into really reactionary. He had attacks many times from the denominations' and the left wing. Trefort was struggling along equally to espouse and to develop all of the areas of his wallet. His triple password: public health, economy, public education. He saw the context of the development of the culture clearly with the necessity of the solution of the economic and social questions. Even his literary function served his cultural policy aims.

Academic career

In 1841 he became corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Later, in 1867 he was promoted to full member. He was appointed President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1885, followed

Menyhért Lónyay Menyhért Count Lónyay de Nagylónya et Vásárosnamény (6 January 1822, in Lónya, Nagylónya – 3 November 1884, in Budapest) was a Hungary, Hungarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1871 to 1872. Early life and an ...

in this position. His ministerial occupation limited his academic activity strongly.

Legacy

A sculpture cherishes his memory at the

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...

. There is a street's name after him in

Józsefváros Józsefváros (, ) is the 8th district of Budapest, Hungary. Historically one of the city's 18th–19th century outer suburbs, it is considered part of the broader city centre due to its proximity to Belváros (Budapest), Belváros (Inner City) ...

. The Trefort Ágoston Bilingual Secondary School preserves his name in Kispest. The Trefort Ágoston Award is one of the state acknowledgement which can be donated by the Minister of Education. For those ministerial, municipal and institution employees can be donated, who make work rising through longer time in the interest of the education.

References