Inauguration of the tomb of the Petőfi family in the National Cemetery

The renewed tomb of the Petőfi family was inaugurated on Saturday in the National Cemetery on Fiumei Street. The renovation was carried out with a private donation from producer Philip Rákay and his wife Orsolya Wieber, the surroundings of the tomb were renovated by the National Heritage Institute (NÖRI).

"Memorials are not needed for heroes, but for us, late descendants, who want to preserve, restore, bring to life as much as possible of what Sándor Petőfi's oeuvre embodies and conveys to today. We must remember to understand the value of freedom," said Gergely Gulyás, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office, in his opening speech.

As he put it, the tombstone of the Petőfi family, brought back into a dignified form, is the most obvious opportunity to bow before the giant of poetry, who is neither dead nor in physical reality, but has remained with us in his unique life. "The legend goes far beyond March 15, 1848, the revolution and the struggle for freedom, because its 174 years hold a mirror before us, reminding us that we Hungarians all belong together in freedom".

Gábor Móczár, director general of NÖRI, highlighted:

Petőfi is everywhere where there are Hungarians, and he will always be there as long as Hungarians remain. "From today, however, there is another worthy place where we can remember our great poet".

The director general said that only the poet from the Petőfi family who died in 1849 on the Fejérgyház battlefield near Segesvár does not rest in the grave, "but his spirit permeates the surroundings".

He noted that in the National Pantheon lie many people who are closely related to Petőfi, such as his best friend, János Arany, Pál Gyulai, who did a lot for the recognition of his poetry, Miklós Barabás, who painted the first public portrait of Petőfi, or Gábor Egressy, who performed the National song at the National Theatre, and he also produced the famous daguerreotype depicting Petőfi.

According to Philip Rákay, patron of the renovation of the tomb

it is possible to live without respect and memory of the past, but it is not worth living.

He recalled that on March 15 of last year, he brought flowers with his wife to the memory of the heroes of '48, when he was confronted with the unworthy state of the Petőfi family's tombstone, so they approached NÖRI to finance its restoration.

Sándor Petőfi's parents, István Petrovics and Mária Hrúz, his wife, Júlia Szendrey, their child, Zoltán Petőfi, and the poet's younger brother, István, are buried in the Petőfi family tomb erected in 1911.

The renewed tomb is about four meters high, and a two-meter bronze turul bird can be seen on the two-meter-high Harást stone post. A bronze wreath was placed in the lower part of the pedestal.

At Saturday's ceremony, besides Gergely Gulyás, Gábor Móczár, Philip Rákay and their wives, Demeter Szilárd, the director general of the Petőfi Literary Museum and the municipality of Kiskőrös, Petőfi's hometown, laid their wreaths.

Source: aelvidek.ma

Featured image: MTI/Zoltán Máthé