Aleksandar Bresztyenszky, also known as Aleksandar Brešćenski and Šandor Brešćenski (September 6, 1843 – May 9, 1904) was a Croatian law writer and politician, professor and rector of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

. Born in Prečec near

Brckovljani Brckovljani is a village and a municipality in Zagreb County, Croatia. According to the 2001 Croatian census, there are 6,837 inhabitants, in the following settlements: * Božjakovina – 178 * Brckovljani – 1,542 * Gornja Greda – 625 * ...

, he studied law in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

and

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, where he received his Ph.D. in 1868. He was the head of the Cathedra of Hungarian-Croatian Civil Law at the Law Academy, and soon after in 1874 on Law and State Faculty within the newly established Royal University of

Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

. In the inaugural rectorship ceremony for Stjepan Spevec, he held a welcome speech announcing the ceremony. He served as rector in the academic year 1880/1881, and after his mandate expired he founded Foundation Anke Bresztyenszky b. Štefanić for the best student expert discussion (a precursor to what is today ''Rector's Award''). He served as a prorector in the academic year 1881–82. After leaving the Unionist Party and the 1894 retirement, he began his publicist activity having joined the opposition as a leader of the

Party of Rights The Party of Rights () was a Croatian nationalism, Croatian nationalist political party in Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and later in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was founded in 1861 by Ante Starčević and Eugen Kvaternik, two influ ...

. He was a city representative in Zagreb, and a representative in the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. He advocated unification of the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

Church. He died in

Pleso Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport () or Zagreb Airport () () is an international airport serving Zagreb, Croatia. It is the busiest airport in Croatia, handling about 4.31 million passengers and some 13,025 tons of cargo in 2024. Named after ...

near

Velika Gorica Velika Gorica () is the largest and most populous city in Zagreb County, Croatia. According to the 2011 census, the city itself has a population of 31,341, and the municipality has a population of 63,517 inhabitants. Velika Gorica is the centre ...

. A street in Zagreb was named after him in 1933.

References

Bresztyenszky's biography
at the University of Zagreb website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bresztyenszky, Aleksandar 1843 births 1904 deaths People from Brckovljani Party of Rights politicians Representatives in the Croatian Parliament (1848–1918) Roman Catholic activists Rectors of the University of Zagreb