UNIVERSITY BIOGRAPHICAL MOSAICS – FERENC KAZY

Two hundred and fifty years ago, in 1773, Pope Clement XIII dissolved the Jesuit order, accelerating the process of the university's transfer to the state. Between 1635 and 1773, many distinguished Jesuits of great knowledge taught at our university, leaving a lasting mark on the history of the institution. In August our feature is on the first chronicler of the university’s history, Ferenc Kazy.

Ferenc Kazy was born in 1695 in Léva, Bars county. He entered the Jesuit order at the age of eighteen, following his older brother, János Kazy. Among other things, he taught theology and rhetoric at the University of Nagyszombat. Later, he was head of house in Trencsén, Pozsony and Sopron, and then between 1748 and 1749 he was the director of the Collegium Rubrorum in Nagyszombat. As a student of Márton Szentiványi, he studied the collection of sources of Gábor Hevenesi and began writing historiography. His first historical work was the biography of the judge István Koháry in 1732. As a continuation of Miklós Istvánffy’s Historia, he wrote the 17th century history of the Kingdom of Hungary. He compiled his work on the history of the university for the centenary of the founding of the University of Nagyszombat (Historia Universitatis Tyrnaviensis Societatis Jesu). He died in Pozsony in 1759.

Source/author of illustration: ELTE University Library and Archives