Bela Bartakovics

* Felsőelefánt, 10 April 1792 – † Eger, 30 May 1873 / Archbishop of Eger, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences ; ; After completing his high school studies, he studied as a student priest at the Emericanum in Bratislava. In 1808–1809, he studied philosophy in Nagyszombat, and in 1810–1813, he studied theology at the Pazmaneum in Vienna. After his ordination as a priest (1815), he was a chaplain first in Vágsellye and then in Muzsla. From 1816, he was the registrar of the archdiocese in Nagyszombat, and between 1820 and 1836, he was the court chaplain of Cardinal Sándor Rudnay, Archbishop of Esztergom. After that, he was a canon in Esztergom for a few years, then a deputy archbishop in Nagyszombat, a regional bishop of Rozsnyó in 1845–1850, and then archbishop of Eger from 1850. He was a significant patron: he had burnt-down school buildings restored and supported talented students in need. The Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which he also supported with large sums, elected him a member in 1853. He also financially supported the Transylvanian Museum, the National Theatre, the St. Stephen Society, and published literary works at his own expense. He renounced the church novena in favor of Eger, ceded church lands to the city, and restarted the Eger Law Academy. ; ; His main works: ; Some Words for the Educating of the People, 1845, ; Pastoral Letters and Holy Sermons, 1865.