Background
. His father was a diplomat, serving as the Hungarian ambassador in Zagreb.
. His father was a diplomat, serving as the Hungarian ambassador in Zagreb.
Born on August 19, 1903, in Petervarad, Hungary, de Balla attended the University of Pécs, where he received the Bachelor of Arts (1924) and Doctor of Philosophy (1938), as well as Eötvös Loránd University, where he received an Master of Arts
De Balla was active in Hungarian Catholic circles, and served as an editor, co-editor, or contributor for several Hungarian Catholic periodicals, including Korunk Szava (Voice of Our Age, editor from 1931-1935), Új Kor (New Era), Jelenkor (Our Age), Nemzeti Újság (National News), and Vigilia (Vigil, editor-in-chief from 1935-1938). He entered the Hungarian Foreign Service in the Summer of 1939, and served as cultural and press attaché in Brussels and Madrid. As Secretary of Legation in Berne.
And then as Hungarian Consul in Paris.
He then joined the graduate History faculty at Saint John"s University in 1958, where he specialized in teaching intellectural history and the philosophy of history. At Saint John"s, he supervised Thomas Laszlo Szendrey"s 1972 doctoral dissertation ("The Ideological and Methodological Foundations of Hungarian Historiography, 1750-1970").
He was the author of A lélek útjai Nyugaton (1934). A megsebzett (1938); Niczky növendék (1939).
Brüsszeli napló: 1939-1940 (1940).
Der Verwundete (1947). Niké naplója (1959); and Traditionalist Warnings and the Limits of Progress in History (1967). De Balla contributed essays to Commonweal, Catholic World, Thought Patterns, University Bookman, and to a collected work by Saint John"s history faculty (Studies in Modern History).