Ferenc Deak

(17 October 1803, Söjtör-28 January 1876, Budapest)

Member of Parliament, Minister of Justice, 'the Sage of the Nation'

He lived in Kehida between 1808 and 1854. He graduated as a lawyer in 1823 and worked in Zala county from 1824 to 1832. In 1833-36, and 1839-40, he was member of parliament for the county in the General Assembly in Bratislava/Pozsony.

As one of the leaders of the opposition, he fought particularly for improvement in conditions for the peasantry, and for freedom of speech and liberty of the press. Between 1841 and 1843 he drafted a new penal code of European standard. He became the Minister of Justice of the responsible, independent Hungarian Government after the 1848 War of Independence broke out.

After the suppression of the revolution and the War of Independence in 1849 Deák withdrew from politics. In the 1850's he became the model of passive resistance to Habsburg rule as the Habsburgs refused to recognise Hungary's independence. In 1854 he moved to Budapest and back into political life. From 1865 he took upon himself the lion's share of preparing the Compromise of 1867 which opened the gate for civil progress, and led to the establishment of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Thereafter he was celebrated as the 'the Sage of the Nation'. His sepulchral monument is in Kerepesi Cemetery, Budapest.