János Simor

János Simor was born on 23 August 1813 in Székesfehérvár.[1] He studied at the local gymnasium, the College of Bratislava, and the Seminary of Nagyszombat. He earned a doctorate in theology from the University of Vienna on 8 December 1841, and continued his studies at Collegium Pazmaneum in Vienna.

He was ordained a priest on 28 October 1836 and for twenty years combined pastoral work with teaching and academic administration. In 1854 Cardinal János Scitovszky dispatched him to Rome to make the case against expanding the planned Austrian concordat to include Hungary.

He was named Bishop of Győr on 19 March 1857[1] and received his episcopal consecration on 29 June 1857 from Scitovszky. He was promoted to Archbishop of Esztergom on 22 February 1867.[1] On 8 June 1867, he crowned Emperor Franz Joseph with the crown of St. Stephen,[2] the event for which he had commissioned Franz Liszt to write his Hungarian Coronation Mass.[3] At the First Vatican Council (1869-1870) he aligned himself with the minority who opposed the dogma of papal infallibility, though he later wrote in its defence.[4]

Pope Pius IX made him a cardinal priest on 22 December 1873[1] and he received the title of San Bartolomeo all'Isola on 15 June 1874. He participated in the conclave of 1878 that elected Pope Leo XIII.[5] He received his red biretta on 22 September 1879 from Pope Leo.[6]

He died on 23 January 1891 in Esztergom and was buried in the cathedral there.

• "János Cardinal Simor". Catholic Hierarchy. ^{[self-published]}
• "Simor, János". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ^{[self-published]}