Péter Pázmány

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Péter Pázmány (1570–1637) was a Hungarian Jesuit, philosopher, theologian, and statesman who led the Catholic Counter-Reformation in Hungary. He helped create the Hungarian literary language and was famous for his powerful speaking, earning him the nickname “the Hungarian Cicero.” Born in Nagyvárad (now Oradea, Romania), he left the Calvinist Church to become Catholic in 1583 and joined the Jesuits in 1587. He studied in Vienna and Rome, was ordained a priest in 1596, and became a Doctor of Theology in 1597. He taught and preached in Graz and at Jesuit colleges, and he won many converts, including nobles, at Sellye (Šaľa).

In 1616 he became Provost of Turóc and was appointed Archbishop of Esztergom, the Primate of Hungary, where he led the Catholic revival. He founded a theological seminary in Trnava in 1619 and the Pázmány teaching college in Vienna in 1623; he also helped fund a university project in Trnava in 1635. The theology faculty of that university later became the Péter Pázmány Catholic University, and the rest became what is now Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. Pázmány built Jesuit colleges in Bratislava and supported Franciscan monasteries in other towns.

Politically, he strongly influenced Hungarian affairs, helping to elect Archduke Ferdinand in 1618 and working to prevent Protestant or Ottoman advances. He was made a Cardinal Priest by Pope Urban VIII in 1629, with Saint Jerome of the Croats as his titular church. He died in Pressburg (Pozsony, Bratislava) in 1637 and was buried in St. Martin’s Cathedral. His grave was rediscovered in 1859. Hungary later honored him with postage stamps in 1935.