Gergely Berzeviczy ''berzeviczei és kakaslomniczi'' (, Slovak: ''Gregor Berzevici'' or ''Gregor Berzeviczy'', German: ''Gregor Berzeviczy'') (15 June 1763 – 23 February 1822) was an important

political economist Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. The branch of social science that studies poli ...

in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, follower of

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...

, one of the first

s in Hungary. He was also a successful writer and an enthusiastic propagator of the

High Tatras The High Tatras or High Tatra Mountains (; ; ,'' Vysoki Tatry''; ; ), are a mountain range along the border of northern Slovakia in the Prešov Region, and southern Poland in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. They are a range of the Tatra Mountains ...

. He was born on 15 June 1763 in

Veľká Lomnica Veľká Lomnica (1808 Welká Lomnica, 1900 Kakaslomnic, 1920 Lomnica, , , ) is a large village and municipality in Kežmarok District in the Prešov Region of north Slovakia. Geography The municipality lies at an altitude of 639 metres and cove ...

(Kakaslomnic) in the

(now Slovakia) and died at the same place on 23 February 1822. He is renowned both in Hungary and Slovakia.

Life

He graduated from the Lyceum of

Kežmarok Kežmarok ( or ; , , , ) is a town in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia (population 16,000), on the Poprad River. Prior to World War I, it was in Szepes county in the Kingdom of Hungary. History Settlement at Kežmarok dates back to the Up ...

(Késmárk) as a lawyer in 1783, then he continued his studies until 1786 at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. Berzeviczy travelled round the countries, which are today called Germany, France, Belgium and England, before returning to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. After returning, he settled as a state clerk, where he had to travel a lot within the country. During his inland travel experiences, Berzeviczy wrote many reform ideas to the king,

Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

about boosting the economy of Hungary, but they were inefficient. In 1795, Berzeviczy took a minor part in the jacobinist Martinovics-plot against the new emperor Francis I, named after its leader,

Ignác Martinovics Ignác Martinovics (, Игњат Мартиновић; 20 July 1755 – 20 May 1795) was a Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian scholar, chemist, philosopher, writer, secret agent, Freemason and a leader of the Hungary, Hungarian Jacobin movement. He ...

. After its failure, Berzeviczy retired from active work, and turned to science, especially to economics and

ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

, and writing. He was one of the first economists in Hungary to realize that the

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

liaisons were heavily blocking the country's economical advancing possibilities. He also criticized the exploitation of the peasants by the nobles, using a very sharp tone. ''De commercio et industria Hungariae'' was the first book in Hungary, which showed the elements of

's theories. In his book ''De conditione et indole rusticorum in Hungaria'' Berzeviczy compared the peasants of Europe by countries, being the first one to do it in Hungary. Berzeviczy's

cal and economical researches and publications earned him a place in the Company of Scholars in

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, in 1802. He contributed in Latin and German only.

Important works

* De commercio et industria Hungariae ( Lőcse, 1797) * De conditione et indole rusticorum in Hungaria ( Lőcse, 1806) * Notizen über das Zipser Komitat in Ungarn Vaterländer Blätter (1810) * Oeconomica Publico Politica etc. (1818, first printed in

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 ...

in 1902) * Die Karpathen in Ungern, ihre natürliche Beschaffenheit, ihre naturerscheinungen, ihre Seen un Thäler, Thiere, Pflanzen und Mineralien, in Franz Sartori: Oesterreichs Tibur (

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, 1819) * Die merkwürdigen Karpathen in Ungarn in Franz Sartori: Naturwunder und ausserordenliche Naturerscheinungen unserer Zeit in dem österr. Kaiserthum (

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, 1821)

Memorials

* The Berzeviczy Gergely School of Trade and Catering in

Miskolc Miskolc ( , ; ; Czech language, Czech and ; ; ; ) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 as of 1 January 2014, Miskolc is the List of cities and towns in Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, ...

, Hungary was named after him.

Sources

church.lutheran.hu
(in Hungarian)

Bibliography

Gyula Ortutay Gyula Ortutay (24 March 1910 – 22 March 1978) was a Hungarian ethnographer and politician, who served as Minister of Religion and Education between 1947 and 1950. Biography Early life Born in Szabadka (now: ''Subotica'', Serbia) to a Catho ...

: ''Berzeviczy Gergely'' (Írók, népek, századok,

, 1960) * Róbert Horváth: ''Berzeviczy Gergely közgazdasági és népességi tanai'' (Szeged, 1964) * Éva H. Balázs: ''Berzeviczy Gergely a reformpolitikus'' (Budapest, 1967) {{DEFAULTSORT:Berzeviczy, Gergely 1763 births 1822 deaths People from Kežmarok District Hungarian economists Gergely Hungarian nobility Scholars from the Austrian Empire