Dr. Sándor Kozma de Leveld (9 September 1825 – 5 August 1897) was a Hungarian politician and jurist, who served as the first Crown Prosecutor of Hungary from 1872 to 1896.

Biography

Kozma was born into a noble family. His brother was Ferenc, a ministerial counsellor and agronomist. Sándor finished his secondary studies 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 ...

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

and

Pápa Pápa is a historical town in Veszprém county, Hungary, located close to the northern edge of the Bakony Hills, and noted for its baroque architecture. With its 28,549 inhabitants (2024), it is the cultural, economic and tourism centre of the r ...

, in the latter as a schoolmate of

Sándor Petőfi Sándor Petőfi ( []; né Petrovics; ; ; 1 January 1823 – most likely 31 July 1849) was a Hungarian poet and Classical Liberalism, liberal revolutionary. He is considered Hungary's national poet, and was one of the key figures of the Hungari ...

Mór Jókai Móricz Jókay of Ásva (18 February 1825 – 5 May 1904), known as Mór Jókai, was a Hungarian novelist, dramatist and revolutionary. Outside of Hungary, he was also known as Maurice Jókai or Maurus Jókai or Mauritius Jókai. He was a le ...

and

Károly Kerkapoly Károly Kerkapoly or ''Kerkápoly'' (13 May 1824 - 31 December 1891) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Finance between 1870 and 1873. He studied in Pápa, in the same school as Mór Jókai and Sándor Petőfi. He worked as a ...

. He studied law in

Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

(''Pozsony''; today ''Bratislava, Slovakia''). He became a lawyer in 1847. On 13 March 1848, he announced the achievements of the First Vienna Uprising in Pressburg. In the Diet of 1848, he served as aide for Szegedy, later the radical László Madarász, both of them envoys from

Somogy County Somogy (, ; ; , ) is an administrative county (Counties of Hungary, comitatus or ''vármegye'') in present Hungary, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary. Somogy County lies in south-western Hungary, on the border with Croatia's Koprivnica- ...

. He participated in the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many Revolutions of 1848, European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in ...

, he fought against the Serbs in the southern territories. After the defeat of the Independence War, he was enlisted in the Austrian Imperial Army, but was fired soon. He was interned in the 1850s, he worked as a lawyer in Somogy County under police surveillance. He was elected Member of Parliament to the Diet of 1861. He was a member of the

Address Party The Address Party () was one of the two political groups of the National Assembly of 1861 in Hungary. The group was led by Ferenc Deák. In 1865 the party was renamed to Deák Party. The Deák Party was succeeded by the Liberal Party The Liberal ...

led by Ferenc Deák. He was appointed head of department in the Ministry of Justice in 1867, during the ministership of

Boldizsár Horvát Boldizsár Horvát (1 January 1822 – 28 October 1898) was a Hungarian politician, poet and novelist, who served as Minister of Justice between 1867 and 1871 in the government of Gyula Andrássy. He was a member of the Hungarian Academy of Scien ...

. He served as judge of the Supreme Court of the

Curia Regia The Royal Curia of Hungary (, ) was the supreme court of the Kingdom of Hungary (Hungary and Croatia) between 1723 and 1949. Charles VI in 1723 divided it into two courts: the ''Tabula Septemviralis'' (Court of the Seven) and the ''Tabula Regia ...

since September 1869. After the establishment of the prosecution system in 1872, he became the first Crown Prosecutor of

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 ...

but his competence extended to the whole country. He oversaw and supervised the operation of detention facilities, as a result he was called "''Father of the Prisons''". He edited the ''Magyar Igazságügy'' ("Hungarian Justice") between 1880 and 1893. Kozma retired in 1896. He was awarded Commanders' Cross of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

Francis Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

. He died on 5 August 1897. His tomb inscription: "''Apostle of the justice and humaneness, incarnation of the Hungarian law, father and forever leading figure of the Crown Prosecution''" (by

Gusztáv Gegus Gusztáv Gegus (5 October 1855 - 19 February 1933) was a Hungarian politician and jurist, who served as Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge ...

External links

Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozma, Sandor 1825 births 1897 deaths People from Somogy County Hungarian jurists Jurists from Austria-Hungary