Dezso Laczko

* Trenčín, July 22, 1860 – † Veszprém, October 28, 1932 / geologist, paleontologist ; ; He completed his high school studies in Nyitra and his hometown. In 1877 he entered the religious order of teachers, studied theology in Nyitra between 1879–1881, and obtained a teaching certificate in geography and natural history in 1883. He worked as a high school teacher in Privigyé, Debrecen, Kecskemét, and from 1888 in Veszprém. He was the director of the Veszprém high school in 1912–1918. He retired in 1920. In addition to his pedagogical activities, he was also deeply involved in the natural sciences. From 1895 he actively participated in the geological exploration of the Bakony and was one of the most outstanding collaborators of Lajos Lóczy (Bratislava) in the study of the area around Lake Balaton. The paleontological findings he uncovered provided research and publication opportunities for 35 other researchers. In the Upper Triassic marl of the Jeruzsálem-hegy in Veszprém, he discovered the pebble-toothed pseudoturtle described by the Berlin paleontologist Otto Jaekel as Placochelys placodonta. He participated in Mór Déchy's (1851–1917) last Caucasus research trip in 1906, enriching the knowledge of the geology of the Caucasus with significant data. He is also responsible for the founding (1903) of the Veszprém County (from 1990: Dezső Laczkó) Museum, of which he was the director. From 1905 he edited the annual reports of the Veszprém County Museum. He participated in the excavation of the Roman site (a villa) of the Baláca Puszta, located on the border of Nemesvámos. He laid the foundations of the Bakonyi Natural History Museum in Zirc. ; ; His main works: ; The development of the skeletal system of vertebrate animals, 1885, ; Geological notes from the Caucasus (In: Caucasus. My research and experiences in the Caucasus Mountains, written and edited by Mór Déchy), 1907, ; The history of Mount Szentbenedek in Veszprém, 1908, ; Geological description of the city of Veszprém and its wider surroundings (In: Results of the scientific study of Lake Balaton I., Part 1. Geological Appendix 1.), 1911, ; Prehistoric data from the area around Lake Balaton, 1929.