Ladislav_Deák
Ladislav Deák
Slovak historian
Ladislav Deák (13 January 1931 – 15 November 2011) was a prominent Slovak historian.
He was born in Markovce on 13 January 1931. He graduated from Faculty of Philosophy of Comenius University in Bratislava in 1957, then he has worked as a teacher. In 1962 he became a research scientist at the Institute of History of Socialistic Countries of Slovak Academy of Sciences. In the first part of his career (until half of 80's), he was focused on research of foreign policy issues of Central European states and Yugoslavia in the interwar period (1918-1939). Later, he researched relationships between Czechoslovakia and Hungary with focus on Hungarian policy towards Slovakia. He held various functions in scientific organisations, including positions in bilateral international commissions of historians. He did extensive consultation and expert work for public authorities and civil society organizations. He was an author or coauthor of 15 books, more than 100 studies and numerous scientific articles in Slovakia and abroad. He compiled edition of three volumes of documents about the First Vienna Award and its consequences. He obtained several awards for his scientific and popularization work.
He died on 15 November 2011 in Bratislava. President of Slovak republic awarded him in memoriam with Ľudovít Štúr Order - class I. for a special merit and a lifetime contribution to the development of culture, particularly in the field of historical sciences.