Gustav Adolf Szontagh

* Csetnek, April 9, 1793 – † Pest, June 7, 1858 / philosopher, aesthete, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; ; He studied at the Miskolc Ref. Lyceum and then at the Mezőberény Evangelical School. He studied philosophy at the University of Pest and law in Késmárk. He was a legal trainee under András Cházár Rozsnyón (1745–1816), a lawyer and notary (Jólész). Between 1813 and 1829, he served as a lieutenant in the Máriássy Regiment, and participated in several battles in France. As a soldier, he was retired in 1837 with the rank of captain. From then until 1849, he was exclusively engaged in literature and science. He sought to develop a uniquely Hungarian, eclectic, agnostic, neo-Kantian philosophical system (“conventional philosophy”), but he also imagined aesthetics as part of the philosophy of art. In 1836, he was one of the founders of the Kisfaludy Society. He published his literary criticism under various pseudonyms (Tuskó Simplicius, Tornay, Karácsony Tivadar, Szamosy, Alkendi, etc.). He was also concerned with the problem of growing crops, especially tobacco and melons, and was known as a renowned melon grower. The Hungarian Academy of Sciences elected him a corresponding member in 1832 and a full member in 1839. ; ; His main works: ; Propylaeums to the Hungarian philosophy, ; with regard to the conditions of our country, 1839, ; Propylaeums to the social philosophy, ; with regard to the conditions of our country, 1843, ; The passionate melon grower. Detailed instructions for growing excellent melons, 1843; Instructions for the rational cultivation of tobacco, 1846; The cause, system, method and results of Hungarian conventional philosophy, 1855; The foundations of the Hungarian Parthenon, 1856.