PROHÁSZKA, OTTOKAR. - One of the greatest Hungarian writers of the 20th century, b. at Niytra on 10 October 1858, d. at Budapest on 2 April 1927. He completed his studies in Rome, at the German-Hungarian College, and was ordained a priest in 1881. In 1884 he became professor of theology at the Seminary of Esztergom; in 1904 he obtained the chair of dogmatic theology at the Pazmány University of Budapest; and in 1905 he was appointed bishop of Székesfehérvár (Alba Regia).
A member of the Academy of Sciences from 1909, from 1920 to 1922 he became a member of the National Assembly of Hungarian orators, poets, and writers. An ardent supporter of the social movement, he worked for a more equitable distribution of wealth, and especially of large landed estates, in favour of the poorest. His output, of philosophical, theological, historical, and pastoral character, was very extensive. Among his works (25 vols., Budapest 1920, edited by A. Schütz), the principal ones are: Dio e il mondo (1890); Terra e cielo
(1901); La concezione trionfale del mondo (1903); Verso le altezze (1911); L'anima della guerra (1915); Luce nelle tenebre (1916); Civiltà e terrore (1918); Sorgenti d'acque vive (1927).