László Skultéty

László Skultéty (, June 27, 1738 – August 19, 1831) was a hussar in the Kingdom of Hungary. He is the longest serving soldier in history, as he served 81 years as a cavalryman before his retirement. He fought in 256 battles during 22 military campaigns, surviving the rule of four emperors.

Biography He was born on 27 June 1738 in Hegyesmajtény (now Mojtín, Slovakia), then part of Barossháza (now Pružina, Slovakia) in the Kingdom of Hungary. According to his birth certificate, he was called Ladislaus Gabrizech. He was a son of Georgius Gabrizech and Catharina Kowacze (ch?).

According to contemporary sources, he spoke Hungarian, German, Slovak, Latin and partially French. Skultéty served under András Hadik during the Seven Years' War, and participated in the capture of the Prussian capital, Berlin. He was awarded two high awards of the Habsburg army Silver Medal for Bravery and Military Cross. He died in a field hospital at the age of 93 in Kisszentmiklós (today part of Arad, Romania). He donated his life savings to his birthplace Mojtín and his last will was to build a church and a school there.

Controversial reburial In 2013, his remains were exhumed and buried in his native village with respect to the planned abolishment of the old cemetery in Arad and per agreement between Slovak and Romanian public authorities. The action caused outrage in the Hungarian government because Skultéty's grave in Arad was one of the many Hungarian cultural heritage sites and Budapest was not notified about the planned exhumation. Zsolt Semjén, the Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary, said that "Slovakia has to stop the falsification of history".