It is with a sad heart that we inform you that
Dr. Zoltán Péteri, Professor Emeritus of our Faculty
On February 29, 2024, at the age of 95 gave his soul back to his Creator.
"Since its foundation, our Faculty has played a decisive role in the teaching of legal and political theory and comparative law. His exceptional depth of education, his broad knowledge of languages, his easy elegance, which pervaded his whole personality, soon made him one of the most popular teachers among those of us who studied in the first years of the new Faculty of Law. Many of us considered him to be the most outstanding lecturer in the Faculty, as he explained even abstract concepts in a clear and enjoyable way, making them easy for us to understand. Behind his mostly serious expression, he had an incomparably witty and cheerful personality; his humorous remarks are still quoted in our conversations with friends. He took many of us to the International School of Comparative Law in Strasbourg, where he himself taught. In his person, he was a natural blend of scholar-researcher and academic lecturer. Those in whom he saw a commitment and interest in an academic subject were given special support in their research. He always focused our attention on the essential: what is permanent in law, what is valuable, what is eternally human. He not only imparted knowledge, but also taught by his own personal example; for many of us, he was the 'ideal lawyer', the one we unconsciously wanted to be like. He belonged to the oldest generation of the first teaching community of our faculty, whose members carried the Pázmány Faculty of Law and Political Sciences on their shoulders in its early years and established its reputation. For this, too, we owe a special debt of gratitude to God.
In the perspective of eternity, his life on earth brings to mind the lines of the Book of Daniel: "Then shall they that understand shine as the bright heavens, and they that have taught many righteousness shall shine for ever and ever like the stars." (Dan 12:3) In this faith we commend him to the mercy of a loving God."
