Egy jogásznemzedék a jogi modernizáció válaszútján : Gyárfás István

Legal history research outlines a remarkable pattern of events throughout the ages of Hungarian legal science. According to this pattern, it appears as if some generations would have been bestowed with particularly good conditions for applying law. Even among these gifted generations, the importance of jurists born in the first decades of the 19th century is outstanding as they have established their legal literacy during the progressive period of the Hungarian Reform Era. These people could prove their skills relatively early during the constitutional revolution of 1848/49 and those who have survived the reprisal, could participate in the following legal modernization (establishing the fundamentals of civil law and legislation of public and private law in Hungary) as seasoned and eager professionals. A few names to be mentioned among the most famous jurists of this period could be: József Eötvös, Boldizsár Horváth, Tivadar Pauler, Károly Csemegi, László Szalay, Imre Zlinszky, István Apáthy and Vilmos Siegmund. Members of this generation have created imperishable value in other domains of science as well. The present study wishes to draw attention on the fact that István Gyárfás (1822–1883), a talented lawyer and jurist of his time, did not only have an important role in establishing a scientific approach to the history, archaeology and linguistics of the Jászkunság region, but also made significant contributions to legal modernization