Andras Bragyova Obituary

The Department of Political Science is sad to announce that an old friend and former colleague, the constitutional scholar András Bragyova passed away on November 9. He was a member of the Constitutional Court between 2005 and 2014, so those in this country who took constitutional adjudication seriously and paid attention to the court’s rulings, including the concurrent or dissenting opinions of individual Justices, could get to know him as a person with deep knowledge and high integrity. That András was assigned the task of drafting a ruling extremely rarely, if at all, was a symptom of the decline of the Court already before its government control after 2010. Yet, he eagerly wrote principled and well argued dissenting opinions in defense of the rule of law and individual rights. This is what even the wider public is in a position to know about him.

But there are things that only colleagues and friends can know. We had been lucky to have András as an Adjunct Professor at our Department from 1993 until 2004. He has taught constitutional theory to both MA and PhD students. Students appreciated his deep knowledge, capacity to explain complex matters in simple ways, and his readiness to discuss their problems be it academic or personal.

Over this long decade, we had the privilege to enjoy his commanding presence. In large companies, András tended to keep silent as if he were absent. But suddenly he raised his voice and made a compelling claim that could not be ignored as unimportant or irrelevant. After which, as suddenly as he was coming to the fore, he withdrew into silence. One should not believe he was a morose person. On the contrary, András was someone with a great sense of humor, sharp wit, and a capacity to enjoy the pleasures of life.

Whenever assistance was needed, one could always count on Andras’s availability. he wasn’t one of those who, once raised to the status of Professor, would refuse to take their share from burdensome administrative tasks.

Although in the last 15 years he was not part of the Department anymore, it was good to know that he was living here, in the same city where CEU operated, active in the defense of the same values we at CEU were fighting for. In the meantime, CEU was forced out of Budapest, and now, András left Budapest too in an entirely different direction.

Department of Political Science

CEU

(Photo: Hungarian Academy of Science)