Ferenc Deák
b. 1803 - d. 1876

Politician, Minister of Justice of the first Hungarian Government, the main organiser of the Austrian-Hungarian Compromise

He came of a medium-landowner family from Zala county. His mother died at his birth, his father died early too. First, he was bred by relatives, later by his elder brother and sister. Between 1817 and 1821 he studied law and philosophy in Gyôr. From 1821 he worked as an articled clerk in Pest, he qualified as lawyer in 1823.

He worked as a county solicitor, as a clerk of the chancery, as a chairman of the chancery, and a judge of the County Court. In 1832 he temporarily substituted his brother, Antal, the Lord Lieutenants Deputy, who was then elected a parlimentary delegate. When his brother resigned from his post of a delegate in 1833, Ferenc was sent into the parliament instead of him (1832 36).

He soon gained great respect among the politicians at the diet, he spoke in connection with several cases: eg.: the case of peasantry, freedom of religion and speech, the case of the Hungarian language, the situation of the Polish. Especially, he played an important role in the negotiations of the case of the peasantry. Hence in Zala county Deák was the correspondent of the Municipal Reports issued by Kossuth, the director of the royal legal affairs wanted to take action against him. Deák played an important part in the compromise made with the court at the Diet of 1839/40, which released the illegally imprisoned people. He participated in the work of the committee that the diet established to present a Bill about a new criminal code. They came forward with several improvements: the abolishment of manorial court and death penalty, the establishment of juries and law court of experts etc. Unfortunately, their recommendations were not codified by the Diet of 1843/44.

At the Diet of 1847/48 he did not even stand as a candidate; his illness that started to become serious from 1845, and his inner problems took part in it (his travels to Switzerland and to Batavia were to cure his diseases). He was also interested in economic problems, in his speech in Szentgrót in 1845 he called upon the population to support home industry. The efforts at parting the opposition failed because of him in the 1840s. The Declaration of the Opposition that aimed the union of the different wings of the opposition was written by him. Nevertheless, he took part in the work of the last feudal diet (from 20th March 1848), this way he could participate in making the April Laws. He accepted the offered post of the Minister of Justice of the first Hungarian Government. The results of his work as a minister were the order about the press jury and the parliamentary decision about the abolishment of paying tithe on grapes. His further plans to prepare the new civil and penal code, and to abolish the feudal remainings could not be carried out in times of war. At the end of August with the help of Batthyány he tried to solve the conflicts in Vienna without any success. He resigned from his post as a minister after the Croatian attack in September. He was appointed into the first representative parliament as a deputy, which post he kept after the September of 1848 as well.

He was left out of the retorsions, nevertheless in spring in 1850 the Army Court of Pécs took action against him, but it was squashed because he did not participate at the diet that announced the dethronement. In 1850 the Minister of Justice of the empire, Schmerling invited him to a common law conference, he rejected the offer. With this, he set an example of not cooperating with the Austrian government, he became the leading figure of the passive resistance. In the 1850s the importance of his personality increased a lot, because other great politicians of the reform era were executed, imprisoned, or had to emigrate. After selling his properties he moved to Pest. The importance of his personality was proved by his getting an invitation into the court at the very end of 1860, his meeting with Joseph Francis did not succeed this time. He rejected the post of the Lord Chief Justice that was offered to him, on the other hand he participated at the meeting of the Lord Chief Justice at the beginning of 1861. The inner district of Pest elected him a representative for the Diet of 1861, he was the leader of the Representation Party against the Decision Party of László Teleki. His party won, his second decision Bill was unanimously accepted by the parliament.

He took a great part in that the Austrian-Hungarian Compromise was finally made in 1867. The important part of his tactics were the use of reasons of legal history and endeavours to an agreement. He was an excellent rhetor and tactician. His famous Easter Article issued in 1865 had a great importance in speeding up the Compromise negotiations. He tried to reconcile the union of the empire with the Hungarian aim of independence (with the base of 1848), so allowances had to be made concerning the common affairs. The negotiations were directed by him all along, he suggested Gyula Andrássy to be the Prime Minister, he did not overtake a minister post in the Government of Andrássy set in 1867. He did not accept titles and awards either.

He rejected to participate in the crowning ceremony.
At the diet he was held to be the leader of his party from that time as well. He did a lot to pass the 1868 Act of the nationalities. Nevertheless, he did not manage to achieve the set up of the state court (constitutional court). In his last parliamentary speech he spoke for the division of the Church and for the civil marriage. He looked on the political life with a critical eye: the disintegration of his party, financial and personal interests coming to the front, the rapidly changing governments. A magnificient funeral was organized for this puritan man, later a mausoleum was built for him, and in 1887 his statue was erected on the bank of the Danube.

Source: Office of National Anniversaries

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