Ferenc Pulszky

* Prešov, September 17, 1814 – † Budapest, September 9, 1897 / politician, archaeologist, art collector, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; ; He began his school studies in Miskolc, then in Prešov and obtained a degree from the Faculty of Law of the University of Pest. He made a European tour with his maternal uncle, Gábor Fejérváry (Komlóskeresztes), who was interested in antiquities, and it was then that he also became interested in archaeology and works of art. Upon returning home, he worked as a legal trainee at the Reform-era parliament in Bratislava and met many prominent figures of the time (Ferenc Deák, Ferenc Kölcsey, Mihály Vörösmarty, József Bajza, Gergely Czuczor and others). From 1839, he was a delegate of Sáros County to the parliament. In 1844, he married the daughter of a Viennese banker, Walter Terézia (1819–1866), with whom he had several children: Ágost Pulszky (1846–1901), legal philosopher, sociologist, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Károly Pulszky (1853–1899), art historian, corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Polixénia Pulszky (1857–1921), writer, Garibaldi Pulszky (1861–1926), engineer, general manager of the Kassa–Oderbergi Railway Company. Ferenc Pulszky held important positions in 1848/49. On behalf of Lajos Kossuth, he traveled to London in 1849 to gain supporters for the cause of Hungarian independence. This mission was unsuccessful, but after the failure of the War of Independence, he was able to help Hungarians forced into emigration through his connections. His relationship with Kossuth became increasingly colder from the 1860s onwards, as he also leaned towards compromise and finally returned to Hungary in 1866, where he was elected envoy of Sáros County in the meantime. He played an active role in the establishment of the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest, and it was his merit to purchase the Esterházy Gallery, which later laid the foundation for the Museum of Fine Arts. From 1869 he was the director of the MNM for a quarter of a century. He also played an important role in the Hungarian freemasonry movement, he was the first grand master of the Hungarian Symbolic Grand Lodge. The Hungarian Academy of Sciences elected him a corresponding member in 1838 and a full member in 1840. ; ; His main works: ; Eszmék Magyarország történeté philosophíájáň, 1880, ; My Life and Times I-IV., 1880–1882, Ignác Martinovics and others, 1882, ; Publicistic Essays, 1889, ; Archaeology of Hungary I-II., 1897–1898.