Dezső Márkus about the Women’s Rights

Abstract

Dezső Márkus, judge of the Supreme Court and councilor judge of the Ministry of Justice, was a supporter of women’s equalization. He felt responsible to speak about the problems of the socially deprived part of Hungarian society. Thus, in his writings that are described in this paper, he advocated the extension of women’s voting rights and opposed the practice of the disciplinary rights of the landholders againts their servans. He felt the need for a change in the legal status of those children who were born out of wedlock. The actuality of his examination was the fact that the drafts of the first Civil Code in Hungary (1900 – 1928) was under editing at the same time and Márkus thought that the legally underprivileged people could get a better status in society under the new act. However, he was aware that it was not yet the time for a radical reform in these areas.