Lajos Loczky

* Bratislava, November 4, 1849 – † Balatonfüred, May 13, 1920 / geologist, geographer, university professor, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1901) ; ; The Lóczy family came from Gömör county. Lajos Lóczy's parents fled from Ópálos near Arad to Bratislava due to the chaotic situation following the failure of the 1848/49 War of Independence. They later returned there and Lóczy graduated from the Arad Gymnasium in 1869. In 1874 he obtained an engineering degree from the Zurich University of Technology. After his return home, he was appointed assistant keeper of the Mineral and Fossil Collection of the Hungarian National Museum. From November 1, 1877 to May 1, 1880, he participated in the East Asian expedition of Grand Duke Béla Széchenyi and traveled to most of China. His observations and discoveries during the trip were recognized worldwide. He showed that the origin of the Central Asian deserts was not the remains of the seabed, but the result of millions of years of desert accumulation. His findings on the geological structure of the Indian mountain ranges were pioneering. After returning home, he worked at the MNM for two more years, continuing as an assistant guard, and from 1883 as a department geologist of the Geological Institute, he conducted geological surveys of the Banat mountains. In 1886, he was invited to the Technical University as an extraordinary professor of geology. From 1889 to 1908, he was a professor of the Department of Universal Geography at the Budapest University of Science and Technology, and from 1902 to 1908, he was the director of the Institute of Geography. From 1908, he was the director of the Institute of Geology. From 1900 to 1914 he was the president of the Geographical Society. ; He edited the geological map of Hungary with Páll Teleki and Károly Papp. In 1891, the Balaton Committee of the Hungarian Geographical Society was founded on his initiative and under his leadership, with the aim of a multifaceted scientific study of the lake. The results of two decades of research were published in the work Results of the Scientific Study of Lake Balaton I-III. (1897–1918). In it, Lóczy discussed the geological formations around Lake Balaton. He initiated the systematic geological and geomorphological exploration of the Transylvanian Basin. He also made significant contributions to the discovery of Transylvanian rock salt and natural gas resources. The drilling of Nagysármás was started based on his survey and studies. He participated in the formation of the Budapest Department of the Hungarian Geographical Society – later the Hungarian Tourist Association – and was its vice-president. In the earth sciences, in addition to tectonics, he achieved outstanding results in stratigraphy and paleontology, but he was also a scientist in geomorphology. His ethnographic, archaeological and historical collections were also famous. He published the results of his work in around two hundred publications. At his request, he was laid to rest in Balatonárács. His son, iff. Lajos Lóczy Jr. (Budapest, June 5, 1891 – Rio de Janeiro, June 9, 1980) was also a professor of geology. From 1920 he worked as a geological expert in various countries and settled permanently in Brazil in 1961. ; ; His main works: ; A khinai erdomalom naturätsä konditionen och korresjonen sözös, 1886, ; Scientific results of Count Béla Széchenyi's East Asian journey 1877 – 1880. I-III. (with Count Béla Széchenyi), 1890–1897, ; History of the Celestial Empire, 1901, ; Geology of the Balaton area, 1910–1916.