Kalla Zsuzsa: Beszélő tárgyak. A Petőfi család relikviái (Budapest, 2006)
Zsuzsa Kalla: The history of the Petőfi relics
As soon as the financial situation allowed, the Society endeavoured to encourage new works by introducing competitions. The first was held in 1882, when poems were invited to accompany the unveiling of Adolf Huszár’s statue of Petőfi on the Danube embankment. Later, though, due to the general low standard, prizes were often not awarded. In 1912, for example, at the Bulyovszky competition for ‘poems to be recited’ only four poems out of forty could be judged. It is, however, worth mentioning that the winner was Gyula Juhász’s Pannóniái légió dala [Song of the Pannon Legion]. In 1893—94 a series of celebrations for Jókai’s 50th literary anniversary gave the Society countrywide fame and a more or less official status. The Society had provided the starting point for the large-scale events and also a framework for the celebrations, as it was ‘contrary to Academy practice to celebrate living writers’ (ibid. 37). After this there were endless celebrations and anniversaries, the most important of which was the 1899 pilgrimage to Segesvár, an extensive series of celebrations to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Petofi’s death. ‘The largest national celebration was, naturally, in Segesvár, the site of the tragic battle. The Petőfi Society put on a special train for literary workers, and political, art and social celebrities, and thousands of people from all over the country made the pilgrimage.’ (Sass 1926) This was where Miklós Köllő’s grand statute of Petőfi, later taken to Kiskunfélegyháza, was unveiled. The statue committee had been working on having this statue erected ever since the Society was founded. Schools and newspapers celebrated, and large-scale local commemorations were held almost everywhere Petőfi had ever been. What added to the splendour of the occasion was László Arany presenting some Petőfi relics — a silk scarf, a metal box and a silver twenty-fillér coin — and it is interesting to see what an important role relics played during the commemorations, conjuring up and evoking the past, and verifying and authenticating reminiscences. On 15th March 1898, for example, the Landerer-Heckenast press with its garland of flowers took centre stage in events organised for the fiftieth anniversary of the free press. In 1908 the Petőfi Society and the capital decided to move the earthly remains of the Petőfi family- those of the poet’s parents, brother, wife and son- to a more suitable burial place. The reburial in a common grave provided an opportunity for grand and glorious ceremony: around the grave stood representatives from educational institutions, the government, the parliament, the Church and social groups, and special staff were hired for the day. Living relatives were given places of honour, all members of the Petőfi Society marched with flaming torches, and the formal attire and coach loads of wreaths offered a truly theatrical spectacle. Bishop Ottokár Prohászka, accompanied by six Catholic priests, performed the last rites upon the grave, a choir sang and social clubs laid flowers. In 1911 a statue by Jenő Bory of the mythical Turul bird holding a lyre was erected near the grave. It was one of the largest statues in the Kerepesi cemetery, almost swamping the marble plaque Petőfi had placed bearing the words ‘Most beloved father and mother’. The unveiling was accompanied by celebrations similar to those at the reburial; the workers’ choir of the Hungarian National Railway’s machine factory were present, as were the capital’s elite. There were many celebrations: the 50th anniversary of the War of Independence, the millennium, the Vörösmarty centenary, the 25th anniversary of the Petőfi Society, the return of Rákóczi’s remains in 1906, Mikszáth’s 40th literary anniversary, and in 1917 the centenary of the birth of the poets Arany and Tompa. A succession of memorial plaques was inaugurated, and a memorial column was even erected in honour of József Komócsy, deceased vice president of the Society. Gyula Pékár, president of the Society, described its aims as ‘organising celebrations to keep alive national reverence for celebrities who are no longer with us’ (Sass 1926, 39). By honouring these recurrent commemorations the Petőfi Society was faithfully following cubic practices. Rituals and repeated actions and celebration en masse, for example the annual laying of a wreath, are an indispensable feature of a cult, as are lavish banquets. Feasts for a hundred people, also important in the private life of the Society, drew many people’s attention to the paradox that costly eating sessions were being organised in the name of the poverty-stricken Petőfi. This, however, did not deter the Society. They even had an ornate, turn-of-the-century Petőfi goblet inlaid with precious stones made, with which new members proposed a toast when giving their speeches. A further example of ritual events was the large, semi-official spring and May Day festivals, which were associated with the Petőfi movement and for which people dressed up in reform-era costumes. 198
