In praise of Széchenyi – initiatives from below

Memorial year for ‘the greatest Hungarian’

MúzeumCafé 17.

Count István Széchenyi, one of Hungary’s leading reformers of the 19th century, died 150 years ago. The greatest message of his life’s work was arguably national unity, yet there has hardly been a historical period or political ideology when attempts have not been made to use him in some way or other for different purposes. Now something rare – at least for Hungary – has happened. Civil organisations approached large state and national institutions, local authorities and schools, and with a small amount of money, though with a large dose of enthusiasm, have brought into being a memorial year. Several such organisations decided that without massive state funding they would dedicate the year 2010 to István Széchenyi. Last year a Széchenyi Memorial Committee was established on the initiative of the Széchenyi Association. Apart from the latter, its members include the National Széchenyi Society, the Széchenyi Foundation, the local authority of Nagycenk – the location of the Széchenyi family estate – and Duna Television. According to Mária Péchy, secretary of the National Széchenyi Society, the organisations involved are on an equal footing. The memorial committee has no separate leadership and the participants designate as spokespeople members of their own leading bodies. Nevertheless the committee has found sympathetic ears and helping hands in the Hungarian National Museum, the National Széchényi Library, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Museum of Transport, as well as in schools named after Széchenyi and a number of other institutes and organisations – not to mention private individuals. A number of companies are lending support. Győr-Sopron-Ebenfurt Railways, for example, has sponsored certain events and one of its locomotives will advertise the memorial year with an image of Széchenyi. The events include numerous school competitions, historical walks, excursions, wreath-laying ceremonies and lectures. Under the auspices of the Széchenyi Academy, noted researchers will give presentations about Széchenyi at the Nagycenk mansion, and there will also be a lecture at the University of Szeged about the small planet named after Széchenyi, which was discovered by astronomers in Szeged. Two highlighted dates – 8 April and 21 September – mark Széchenyi’s death and birth, respectively. Among the associated activities, competitions involving 156 primary and secondary schools are regarded as the most important. Most events are taking place in Nagycenk, in the family mansion which today houses the István Széchenyi Memorial Museum. Széchenyi inherited the estate from his father, and between 1834 and 1860 he had the mansion refashioned, including the creation of a new part in the west wing of the main building. The museum, which opened in 1973, is devoted to the life and work of Széchenyi. However, the displays are today rather run-down, and so an application has been made for a project to develop the local village, the memorial exhibition and the mansion grounds as tourist attractions. It is hoped that the new exhibition will open to the public next spring. Throughout 2010 numerous events are being organised in memory of Count István Széchenyi by the Győr-Moson-Sopron county authority and the Sopron Museum – exhibitions, concerts, competitions and presentations. In Nagycenk on 17 September during the Széchenyi Days the premiere will take place of a work specially composed for the occasion by Zoltán Kocsis. On the following day there will be a special memorial ball. László Csorba, director of the Hungarian National Museum and himself a Széchenyi researcher, says that in the autumn his museum will have an exhibition, provisionally entitled ‘Széchenyi’s Worlds’. The goal is to highlight a number of important elements of Széchenyi’s many projects. The first part would aim to help those not so familiar with Széchenyi, so his life and work will be briefly outlined. The second room would be devoted to the great creator, the ‘promoter of Hungarian civilisation’, and will feature the Chain Bridge as its centre point. “This symbol is very fitting for showing how Széchenyi perceived matters in his multi-faceted conceptions,” says László Csorba. A third room will deal with the final years Széchenyi spent as the inmate of an asylum in Döbling. “We want to demonstrate the means by which Széchenyi while there stood up to despotism. This not only involves details about his secret writings, but also concerns the contemporary world of psychiatry and the treatment of nervous diseases, the methods employed and the doctor-patient relation. Our endeavour is to draw together what we know about Széchenyi’s illness.” This part of the exhibition has two aims. “On the one hand, we want to show that if the will is there a sick person is also able to do something for the homeland. On the other, it has to be made clear that all the indirect data and evidence unequivocally show that Széchenyi committed suicide.” The remaining parts of the exhibition will be devoted to the cult of Széchenyi as ‘the greatest Hungarian’. In January 2010 the Széchenyi Memorial Year was inaugurated with the opening of the Stories of Bridges – The Chain Bridge display at the Transport Museum in Budapest. One of the most important exhibitions of the year opened on 3 May in the main building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and was put together by the Art History Research Institute and the library of the academy. The display includes documents relating to Széchenyi from the academy’s manuscript archive and works of art in the institute’s possession. There is also a series of pictures about the formation of the Széchenyi cult and the count’s contemporaries. About 200 documents are on display, which aim to survey Széchenyi’s entire life. István Széchenyi is the most thoroughly researched figure of Hungarian history, with several thousand specialist works having been written about him. A notable feature of the exhibition is that Széchenyi’s diaries and manuscripts can be viewed by the public over a period of several months. The Academy of Sciences has been looking after Széchenyi’s legacy for almost 150 years. In 1905 the Széchenyi Museum was established, which was both a research centre and a limited access exhibition space. After World War II the academy’s memorial rooms and special collections were closed, and with them the Széchenyi Museum, too. The manuscripts and documents were transferred to the academy’s library, while the objects were obtained by its different institutes. Thus was born the Széchenyi Collection of the manuscript archive. The documents are available for research in line with the usual library practices. In connection with the Széchenyi Memorial Year, the Hungarian Museum of Agriculture is organising a number of special events for young people. The ‘Children’s Corner’ on its website has a Széchenyi quiz. The two-round game not only provides a lot of information, it also gives the opportunity for prizes to be won if correct answers are submitted. The first round got underway in the spring. Four correct responses can result in an entrance ticket valid for the Night of Museums.