Today is the day of Hungarian culture, which has been celebrated since January 22, 1989, in memory of the fact that, according to the manuscript, Ferenc Kölcsey clarified the manuscript of the Anthem at Szatmárcsek on this day in 1823.
On January 22, 1823, Ferenc Kölcsey clarified the manuscript of the Anthem as part of a larger manuscript package, into which the poet continuously copied his poems, not final versions, but clarifications, which in some places also contain corrections.
The package disappeared sometime in the late 1830s and began its journey of more than a hundred years of stealth. After Kölcsey's death in 1838, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences began negotiations with the poet's sister-in-law, widow. Ádám Kölcsey with Josephine Szuhany about the purchase of the manuscripts. Kölcsey left a significant part of his manuscripts to his nephew, Kálmán Kölcsey of Parainesis. In the end, the manuscript package did not become the property of the Academy, but neither did anyone else, it remained in the family's possession, and through various descents and inheritance, it finally came to Magda László. We do not know how the document got from Magda László to Magda Szenes, it is not even impossible that the two ladies are the same person. However, it is a fact that the manuscript package was purchased from Magda Szenes by the National Széchényi Library in December 1946, and since then other smaller
also parts of the manuscript package, which are kept separately under a separate label, but philologically it can be accurately reconstructed that they were once part of the large manuscript package.
Kölcsey wrote the Anthem on two pages. The damage that can be seen on both folios is not a flame burn, but a so-called ink etching. It could not have been caused by Kölcsey's ink, according to the restoration specialists of the National Széchény Library, acidic ink spilled onto the edge of the paper.
Let's recite the National Anthem at the same time
On this day, the Ministry of Culture and Innovation would like to draw attention to the unity of the nation, the power of belonging to the Hungarian community, and to the fact that living together is the key to the survival of the nation.
On the Day of Hungarian Culture, after the state commemoration, 200 children - 100 from the motherland and 100 from abroad - will recite our national prayer together with the President of the Republic, Katalin Novák, on January 22 from 5 p.m., symbolizing the 200th anniversary, on the main steps of the Parliament. At the same time, the National Anthem will be recited at the same time in four locations across the border: Nagyvárad in Partium, Székelyudvarhely in Transylvania, Nagymegyer in the Highlands, Zenta in the Southern Region, and at the prominent locations of the commemoration series: Szatmárcsek, Veszprém, the Cultural Capital of Europe. MTVA broadcasts live from overseas and domestic locations.
The Ministry of Culture and Innovation encourages everyone, Hungarian communities and individuals from across the border and here, to join in the joint recitation after experiencing the sustaining and strengthening feeling of belonging to the nation.
Source: Magyar Kurír, KIM
