Rómer, Flóris Ferenc

Rómer, Flóris Ferenc (Pozsony, 12th April 1815 – Nagyvárad, 18th May 1889), Benedictine archaeologist, art historian, teacher, painter, Grand Provost and Canon of Nagyvárad, father of Hungarian archaeology, member of the Hungarian Academy of Science. He was born in a German speaking family, he learned the Hungarian language during his early school years. In 1830, he became Benedictine. In the monastery of Bakonybél, Arnold Ipolyi was one of his schoolmates. He was ordained in 1838. As a professor of Humanities, he taught at the University of Győr from 1839, and at the University of Pozsony from 1845. During this time were his first scientific articles published. During the War of Independence, he fought as a volunteer sapper, he took part in the building of the Bridge of Óbars, and the ramparts of Buda and Komárom, and in the siege of the Castle of Buda, after which, as a captain, he was invited to teach at the Ludovika Academy, but he did not have the time to begin teaching. After the war has been lost, he was imprisoned. He was freed in 1854. He began teaching again, but he could only return to the Benedictine Grammar School of Győr in 1857. In 1861, he left behind the bonds of the Benedictine Order and moved to Pest. He was the treasurer of manuscripts of the Academy, and later he became grammar school principal. During this time were those institutes and journals founded, which later became the foundations of Hungarian archaeology. In 1868, he became professor of Archaeology at the University of Pest. From 1869, he was a guard of the Collection of Antiquities of the Hungarian National Museum. In 1874, he was freed from his bonds as Benedictine, and became a priest near Besztercebánya, and later, Abbot of Jánosi. In 1877, he was named Canon of Nagyvárad, where he founded another museum. He was a founding member of the Hungarian Historical Society. As a committed researcher, he visited most of the country and Europe. He founded the famous library of Nagyvárad.

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