Augustine Trefort

* Homonna, 6 February 1817 – † Budapest, 22 August 1888 / cultural politician, publicist, president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences ; ; His family was of Walloon origin, his grandfather, a military doctor, settled in Hungary. His father, Ignác Trefort (1770–1831), born in Prešov, was a well-known surgeon and lived in Homonna, where he fell victim to the cholera epidemic of 1831. His second wife, Tekla Beldovics, Ágoston's mother, also died during the cholera epidemic. The orphaned Trefort children (Ágoston, Antal and István) were taken under the patronage of Countess Petronella Csáky. Ágoston Trefort completed his secondary school studies at the Eger Lyceum, and then from 1833 he studied law at the University of Pest. He became a lawyer at the age of 18 and practiced law at the district court in Prešov. After returning from his nearly one-year tour of Western Europe, he passed the bar exam in December 1837 and entered the civil service. During this time, he came into closer contact with many prominent representatives of the Hungarian Reform Era, including Baron József Eötvös. His first public appearance was to initiate the establishment of the Industrial Union, of which he later became president. In 1841, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences elected him a corresponding member and in 1867 a full member. From 1885 until his death, he also held the position of president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In the early stages of the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848/49, he took an active public role: he worked as a state secretary alongside Gábor Klauzál, the Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Trade. However, after the assassination of Count Lamberg (September 28, 1848), he emigrated and only returned to Hungary with his family in 1850. In the 1850s and 1860s, he became involved in public life again, was a member of parliament and participated in the political work preparing the compromise. After the death of József Eötvös, he was offered the leadership of the Ministry of Religion and Public Education, which he reluctantly accepted in 1872 and held until his death, as a member of various governments. At the same time, he also served as Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Trade for a short time (between 1876 and 1878). During his ministry, Hungarian education was completely renewed and transformed, especially the higher education system, and new higher education institutions were established on his initiative (e.g. the University of Cluj). He reformed medical training, teacher training, engineering training, and expanded the infrastructure of universities. He increased the three-year training to four years. He adopted the ideas of Mór Kármán (1843–1915) for secondary school reform, and thanks to this, the ratio of humanities and natural sciences subjects became more balanced. He also developed secondary vocational education. He is responsible for the founding of the Budapest Academy of Music and the Museum of Applied Arts, and the general introduction of fine arts education. He took important steps in the field of monument protection. He ordered the restoration of several outstanding monuments (e.g. the Matthias Church in Buda Castle, the St. Elizabeth Cathedral in Košice, the St. Egyed Church in Bárta, etc.). He is also responsible for the intensification of the Magyarization policy in public education and intellectual life, but this would only become decisive after his death. As a writer, he primarily published journalistic articles and educational studies.