COURSES TAUGHT: 

Revolutions in early-modern Europe  
 
Sociability and political society: 
topics in early-modern intellectual history 
 

CURRICULUM VITAE 

I. PERSONAL DATA 

Name: Dr László Kontler 
Born: Budapest, 31 July 1959 
Parents: Mr Aurél Kontler, Ms Karolin Nyíresy 
Marital status: married (wife Dr Emõke Tomsics), with two daughters (Dorottya 1987, Júlia 1996) 
Permanent address: Budapest, Hajnalka u. 15. H-1121 
Phone: (361) 249-3842 

languages: Hungarian (native) English (excellent), German (fair), French (reading) 

II. ACADEMIC DEGREES 

1983: undergraduate diploma (nearest equivalent: M. A.), Eötvös Lóránd University (Budapest, Hungary) 
subjects: history, English language and literature (thesis: The political theory of the Glorious Revolution. Supervisor: Prof. Éva H. Balázs) 
grade: 5 (in a scale of 1 to 5) 

1986: doctor universitatis, Eötvös Lóránd University (Budapest, Hungary) 
subject: early modern political thought (thesis: The roots of conservatism. Supervisor: Prof Éva H. Balázs) 
grade: summa cum laude 

1995: candidate of historical science (nearest equivalent of Ph.D.), Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Budapest, Hungary) 
thesis defended: Edmund Burke and the early modern languages of politics 
grade: 100% 

III. UNIVERSITY EDUCATION 

09/1978--06/1983: undergraduate studies, Eötvös Lóránd University (Budapest, Hungary) 
subjects: history, English language and literature 

09/1983--06/1986: graduate studies, Eötvös Lóránd University (Budapest, Hungary) 
subjects: early modern political thought, history of philosophy 

IV. WORK AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND 

02/1987--06/1989: teaching assistant, Institute of History, Kossuth Lajos University (Debrecen, Hungary -- from 07/1987 part time) 

07/1987--09/1989: editorial secretary, Danubian Historical Studies (Institute of History, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest) 

09/1990--08/1991: junior research fellow, Institute of European Studies (Budapest) 
simultaneously: guest lecturer, Department of Cultural History, Eötvös Lóránd University (Budapest) 

09/1991--06/1992: Fulbright visiting scholar (with teaching duties), Department of History and Institute of Hungarian Studies, Rutgers University (New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA) 

09/1992--current: History Department, Central European University (Budapest, Hungary), assistant professor till 08/1998, associate professor since then; acting head of department since 08/1999 
simultaneously: guest lecturer (since 09/1996 on a post-doctoral fellowship programme of the Hungarian National Fund for Scientific Research), Department of Medieval and Early Modern History, Eötvös University (Budapest) 

Further professional activity 

1985--1995: history courses in a number of programs for North American and Western European students in Budapest 

1989--current: history and political theory editor, Atlantisz Publishing House (Budapest) 

01/1997--current: editorial committee member, European Review of History 

Advisory Board member, Europa entdecken series (Fischer europäische Geschichte, ed. Wolfgang Benz) 

V. STUDY AND RESEARCH ABROAD 

08/1983: Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel -- participation in Sommerkursus, "Martin Luther und die Reformation" 

08/1986--01/1987: London School of Economics and Political Science, Oxford University, Cambridge University. British Council scholarship. Field of study: political and religious thought the in early British Enlightenment. Supervisor: Prof. Kenneth Minogue 

10/1989--06/1990: Oxford University, St. Antony's College. Postdoctoral scholarship of the Soros Foundation. Field of study: the British Enlightenment, early British conservatism and the relationship between them. Supervisors: Profs. Leslie Mitchell and Robert Evans 

09/1991--06/1992: Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey (since this included teaching duties, see also under IV.) Research on ideas of empire, commerce and civilization in the Age of Enlightenment. 

01/1995--03/1995: Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel -- research on eighteenth-century German historical and political thought and references in it to the British Enlightenment, as a fellow of the HAB 

04/1999--06/1999 -- Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh. Mellon Fellowship. Research: Conservative Enlightenment in Britain and Germany, 1760--1800 

László Kontler 

List of publications 

I. PUBLICATIONS IN ENGLISH 

Book: 

Millennium in Central Europe. A History of Hungary. Atlantisz Publishing House, Budapest, 1999. 537 pp. 

Articles in journals and contributions to books: 

"Tolaration and the image of Islam in early Enlightenment English thought", in: Éva H. Balázs (ed.): Sous le signe des Lumiéres. ELTE, Budapest, 1987. pp. 6--26. 

"Seventh International Congress on the Enlightenment", Danubian Historical Studies, 1987/4. pp. 62--80. 

"John Locke and the tradition of liberal natural law", in: Transactions of the Seventh International Congress on the Enlightenment, Oxford-Paris, 1989. pp. 1729--1732. 

"The Promise of the History of Ideas", Budapest Review of Books, 1993/2. pp. 62--68. 

"Edmund Burke and the late Enlightenment in England and in Central Europe", CEU History Department Yearbook, 1994. pp. 47--65. 

"Polishing Liberalism: Reflections on Matthew Arnold and Cultural Policies Applicable to a Gründerzeit", in CEU History Department Yearbook 1994-95. CEU, Budapest, 1996. pp. 39--50. 

"William Robertson's history of manners in German 1770-1795", Journal of the History of Ideas, 1997/1. pp. 125--144. 

"The ancien régime in memory and theory. Edmund Burke and his German followers", European Review of History, 1997/1. pp. 31--43. 

"Superstition, Enthusiasm and Propagandism: Burke and Gentz on the Nature of the French revolution", in: Bertrand Taithe, Tim Thornton (eds.): Propaganda. Political Rhetoric and Identity 1300--2000. Sutton Publishing, Phoenix Mill, 1999. pp. 97--114. 

"Introduction: Reflections on Symbolic Geography", European Review of History, 1999/1 (thematic issue: "Central Europe, Ten Years After", collected by L.K.) 

"The conservative Enlightenment and the eighteenth-century recovery of European self-confidence", in CEU History Department Yearbook 1997-1998. CEU, Budapest, 1999. 

Volume edited: 

Pride and Prejudice. National Stereotypes in 19th and 20th-Century Europe East to West. CEU History Department Working Paper Series #2. Budapest, 1995. 211 pp. 
 
 

II. PUBLICATIONS IN HUNGARIAN 

(original titles in parantheses) 

Book: 

The Mystery of the State. British Conservatism and the Early-Modern Languages of Politics. Atlantisz, Budapest, 1997. 318 pp. (Az állam rejtelmei. Brit konzervativizmus és a politika kora újkori nyelvei) 

Articles in jornals and contributions to books: 

"How Budapest became a capital", Budapest, 1984/1. pp. 25--32. ("Hogyan lett Budapest fõváros?) 

"Lawrence Stone: The Family, Sex and Marriage 1500-1800", Századok, 1984/5 (review article). 

"Political theory, Glorius Revolution and constitutional settlement: England 1688", in: László Kontler, Tünde Mikes (eds.): Studies on 16-18th Century European History. ELTE, Budapest, 1984. pp. 75--106. ("Politikaelmélet, dicsõséges forradalom és alkotmányos rendezés 1688-ban", in: Tanulmányok a XVI-XVIII. századi egyetemes történelem körébõl) 

"Introduction", in: John Locke: Second Treatise of Government, Budapest, Gondolat, 1986. pp. 7--37. ("Bevezetés", Locke: Értekezés a polgári kormányzatról) 

"J.C. Davis: Utopia and the Ideal Society. A Study of English Utopian Writing 1516-1700", Századok, 1986/1 (review article). 

"Thomas Hobbes on society and politics", Világosság, 1986/10. pp. 611--620. ("Thomas Hobbes és a társadalom politikuma") 

"On the road to conservatism: political thought and policy making in England 1650-1700", Medvetánc, 1987/3-4. pp. 19--56. ("A konzervativizmus útján: politikaelmélet és politizálás Angliában a XVII. század második felében") 

"John Locke's diary of his travels in France 1675-79", Világtörténet, 1988/4. pp. 31--49. ("John Locke franciaországi útinaplója 1675-79") 

"Enlightenment, Aufklärung and Conservatism: Edmund Burke in Germany", Világosság, 1992/12. pp. 901--913. ("Felvilágosodás és konzervativizmus: Edmund Burke Németországban") 

"What the history of ideas promises. On Mária Ludassy's books", BUKSZ, 1993/2. pp. 140--148 ("Az eszmetörténet ígértei. Ludassy Mária könyveirõl", review article). 

"Republic and Utopia: two paradigms in early modern political thought", Holmi, 1993/5. pp. 662--674. ("Köztársaság és utópia") 

"Mahometan Christianity: English authors on toleration 1670-1730", Magyar Tudomány, 1993/11. pp. 341--353. ("A `mohamedán kereszténység'") 

"Liberalism refined. Matthew Arnold's cultural criticism in liberal England", Nappali Ház, 1994/1. pp. 124--130. ("Liberalizmus -- kulturáltan. Matthew Arnold kultúrakritikája a liberális Angliában") 

"State, church and established church: political theology and religious policies in liberalizing England", Világosság, 1994/5-6. pp. 138--158. ("Állam, egyház, államegyház. Politikai teológia és valláspolitika a liberalizálódó Angliában") 

"From an empire of equals to equal nations. Changing patterns in the arguments of American colonists prior to the War of Independence", in: Mária Ludassy (ed.): Between Politics and Morality. ELTE, Budapest, 1994. pp. 83--106. ("Az egyenlõk birodalmától az egyenrangú nemzetekig. Érvek és ellenérvek az amerikai gyarmatosok és az anyaország vitájában", in: Morál és politika határán.) 

"Faction, interest group, party. The rise of a party system in Britain", Rubicon, 1994/9, supplement. ("Klikk, érdekcsoport, politikai párt") 

"Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws", in: Thirty-Three Famous Works in Philosophy. Budapest, Móra, 1995. pp. 175--188. ("A törvények szellemérõl", in: Harminchárom fontos filozófiai mû.) 

"1640" and "1776", in: János Poór (ed.), Fifty Important Dates. Budapest, Lord, 1995. pp. 192--199, 229--236. (Ötven nagyon fontos évszám.) 

"Market, civil society, refinement. The probem of the rise of the middle classes in early modern Britain", Rubicon, 1995/11. pp. 12--18. (Piac, civil társadalom, csiszoltság. Gondolatok a kora újkori brit polgárosodásról") 

Cca. 120 entries in: János Poór (ed.): Dictionary of Early Modern European History. Budapest, Maecenas, 1996. (Kora újkori egyetemes történeti lexikon.) 

"Thomas Carlyle on The English", in: János Kalmár (ed.): Miscellanea fontium historiae Europaeae. Festschrift for Éva H. Balázs on her Eightieth Birthday. ELTE, Budapest, 1997. pp. 358--367. ("Thomas Carlyle az angolokról") 

"The authority of a periphery. The Scottish Enlightenment", BUKSZ, 1997/2. pp. 138--147 ("Egy mértékadó periféria", review article). 

"Thomas Jefferson and the French Revolution, by Péter Hahner", Holmi, 1999/7. pp. 910--915 ("T. J. és a francia forradalom", review article) 
 

Volumes edited 

Edmund Burke: Reflections on the Revolution in France, Budapest, Atlantisz, 1990. Translation, introduction (pp. 9--80.) and notes by László Kontler. 401 pp. (Töprengések a francia forradalomról.) 

Survivors: Elites and Social Change in Modern Europe. Selection from international historical literature. Budapest, Atlantisz, 1993. 241 pp. (Túlélõk. Elitek és társadalmi változás az újkori Európában.) 

Languages to Ideology: Early Modern Sources of Conservatism. Budapest, Osiris (Nyelvek és ideológia: szövegek a korai konzervativizmus tanulmányozásához, forthcoming). 
 

Volumes edited (translated, annotated) in collaboration: 

(with Mária Ludassy): Classics of Anglo-American Liberalism. Vol. I.: texts by Paine, Jefferson, Macaulay, Mill, Acton. Budapest, Atlantisz, 1991. 231 pp. (Az angolszász liberalizmus klasszikusai.) 

(with Péter Takács): The Complete Essays of David Hume. 2 vols. Budapest, Atlantisz, 1992--1994. 298 and 439 pp. (David Hume összes esszéi.) 

(with Mária Ludassy): Benjamin Constant: The Liberty of the Ancients and the Moderns. Budapest, Atlantisz, 1997. 272 pp. (A régiek és a modernek szabadsága.) 

(with Ferenc Horkay Hörcher): The Cambridge View of the History of Early-Modern Political Thought. Pécs, Tanulmány, 1997. (A koramodern politikai eszmetörténet cambridge-i látképe).