Dezső Kolossváry de Kolosvár (or Desiderius Kolossváry de Kolosvar) (1 May 1854 – 5 April 1919) was a Hungarian military officer in the Austro-Hungarian service and (briefly) a politician.

Biography

He was born in

Veszprém Veszprém (; , , , ) is one of the oldest urban areas in Hungary, and a city with county rights. It lies approximately north of the Lake Balaton. It is the administrative center of the county of the same name. Etymology The city's name derives ...

on 1 May 1854. His father was Joseph Kolossváry, a lawyer and landowner, his mother was Carolina Nedeczky. He enrolled at the military academy in Vienna, graduating in 1876 and serving as a lieutenant in the 10th Hussars regiment. In 1881 he was assigned to the General Staff, and promoted to captain in 1884 and to major in 1891. In 1896 he became a lieutenant colonel (full colonel in May 1897) and was the director of the

Evidenzbureau The k.u.k. Evidenzbureau (lit. ''"Imperial and Royal Evidence Bureau"'') was the common military intelligence service of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was subordinated to the Chief of the General Staff under the common Imperial and Roya ...

(Austro-Hungarian

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

) between 1896 and 1898. This was followed in May 1898 by appointment as chief of the Operations Bureau (Bureaus für operative Generalstabsarbeiten). In 1901 Kolossváry left the Austro-Hungarian General Staff and moved to the

Royal Hungarian Honvéd The Royal Hungarian () or Royal Hungarian (), commonly known as the (; Mass noun, collectively, the ), was one of the four Austro-Hungarian Army, armed forces ( or ) of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918, along with the Imperial-Royal Landw ...

, the Territorial Army based in his native Hungary, in which he took command of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade. In May 1903 he was promoted to the rank of major general. However, only a month later, in June of the same year, he accepted the position of Hungary's

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in the short-lived, crisis-ridden cabinet headed by Khuen-Héderváry between June and November 1903. Part of the crisis, left unresolved when Kolossváry's short foray into politics ended, concerned a controversial conscription bill. Kolossváry's successor as defence minister, Major General Sándor Nyiry, agreed to let him return to active military service. In 1904 he commanded the 14th Cavalry Brigade in

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...

. In August 1906 he commanded a division located in Stanislav (now

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk (, ), formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also host ...

). The remaining years of Kolossváry's military career were spent in the environs of

Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

(

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

), the chief city of Galicia. In November 1907 he was promoted to lieutenant-general and appointed to command of the 30th Infantry Division based in Lemberg. On 31 October 1912 he advanced to command of the 11th Army Corps in the same area. As such, Kolossváry took part in the

Battle of Galicia The Battle of Galicia, also known as the Great Battle of Galicia, was a major battle between Russia and Austria-Hungary during the early stages of World War I in 1914. In the course of the battle, the Austro-Hungarian armies were severely def ...

in the early stages of the First World War, subordinate to Rudolf von Brudermann, who led the Austria-Hungarian 3rd army. Following the disastrous Austria-Hungarian defeat in that battle, and specifically the loss of Lemberg to the Russians, Kolossváry was in September 1914 removed from command of the 11th Army Corps. He got no further appointment, going on an indefinite

leave of absence The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they ar ...

on 1 February 1915, and having no further part in the war. He died on 5 April 1919 at the age of 65, in

Sopron Sopron (; , ) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century In the Iron Age a hilltop settlement with a burial ground existed in the neighbourhood of Sopron-Várhely. When ...

References

External links

Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolossvary, Dezso 1854 births 1919 deaths People from Veszprém Hungarian soldiers Ministers of defence of Hungary Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Military history of Lviv