Count Géza Teleki de Szék (also known as ''Géza von Teleki'', 27 November 1911 – 5 January 1983) was a Hungarian politician and

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player who competed in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

. He was born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, the son of

Pál Teleki Count Pál János Ede Teleki de Szék (1 November 1879 – 3 April 1941) was a Hungarian politician who served as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1920 to 1921 and from 1939 to 1941. He was also an expert in geography, a uni ...

Private life

While the Hungarian Sea Scouts were attending a

Sea Scout Sea Scouts are a part of the Scout movement, with a particular emphasis on boating and other water-based activities on the sea, rivers or lakes (canoeing, rafting, scuba, sailboarding). Sea Scouts can provide a chance to sail, cruise on boats, ...

rally in the summer of 1927 at

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

, Denmark, Teleki was inclined on a cruise to ignore a reprimand from his scoutmaster, Fritz M. de Molnár, for failure to carry out a small but necessary exercise of seamanship. Molnár tried to drive home his point by threatening to tell the boy's father on their return to Budapest, but Géza replied, "Oh, Dad's not interested in

scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

." This prompted Molnár to take up the subject of Scouting with Count Teleki, who became interested. It meant that the movement in Hungary obtained the wholehearted support and encouragement of one of its noted citizens, becoming Chief Scout, honorary Chief Scout, a member of the International Committee for many years, camp chief of the

4th World Scout Jamboree The 4th World Scout Jamboree (Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''4. Cserkész Világdzsembori''), a gathering of Boy Scouts from all over the world, was hosted by Hungary and held from 2 to 13 August 1933. It was attended by 25,792 Boy Scout, Scou ...

, and a close friend of his contemporary

Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with ...

. In 1936 Géza Teleki was a member of the Hungarian

team at the 1936 summer Olympics, playing in all three matches as a forward.

Political career

Géza Teleki pressed for the truce on the end of the Second World War and became a member of the delegation that started peace negotiations in Moscow on 28 September 1944. He also signed the interim truce on 11 October, although this was thwarted by the Nazi-style

Arrow Cross Party The Arrow Cross Party (, , abbreviated NYKP) was a far-right Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which formed a government in Hungary they named the Government of National Unity. They were in power from 15 October 1944 to ...

takeover on 15 October. He served as minister of religion and education in the Interim National Government that formed in

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

and was briefly leader of the new conservative Civic Democratic Party, but then taught in the Faculty of Economics of the

University of Budapest A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

until 1948. He emigrated to the United States in 1949.

Later life

He was a teacher at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

from 1950. From 1955 he was a

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

professor at the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

. Teleki and his wife took their own lives due to an incurable disease. His father,

also committed suicide in 1941.

References

* ''Scouting Round the World'', John S. Wilson, first edition, Blandford Press 1959 p. 165

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Teleki, Geza 1911 births 1983 suicides Politicians from Budapest Sportspeople from Budapest Hungarian geologists Ministers of education of Hungary Hungarian male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players for Hungary Field hockey players at the 1936 Summer Olympics People associated with Scouting Scouting and Guiding in Hungary Hungarian politicians who died by suicide Hungarian emigrants to the United States Geza Joint suicides Suicides in Washington, D.C. Children of prime ministers of Hungary 20th-century geologists 1983 deaths 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen

Private life

Political career

Later life

See also

References

External links