A Hajdú-Bihar Megyei Levéltár évkönyve 29. 2002-2003 (Debrecen, 2003)
Tanulmányok - Bényei Miklós: Bihar vármegye gyásza Széchenyi István halálakor
166 Bényei Miklós: Bihar vármegye gyásza Széchenyi István halálakor Bihar County Mourning upon the Death of István Széchenyi Miklós Bényei Count István Széchenyi was connected with many close ties to Bihar County for a long time. When he died, the county joined in the national mourning with sincere pain. As contemporary newspapers of the capital city reported, the Roman Catholic bishop of Nagyvárad (Oradea) and other parsons conducted a memorial service. Remarkably numerous pastors of the Reformed Church, two dozen by number, prayed for the salvation of the Roman Catholic politician, who was regarded as a symbol of the progress of the nation. In many places, the commemoration was also connected to the fundraising for the statue of Széchenyi and the planned building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In Diószeg, where Count Széchenyi spent a considerable period as a young Hussar (cavalry) officer, a musical and literary soirée was held in his memory. The Casino Association of Nagyvárad sent a letter of condolence to his widow, as did the Savings Bank Association of the same city, also founded under the aegis of Széchenyi’s ideas. The written condolences of three private persons also survived. The ideal of the self-conscious urban bourgeois, conceived by Széchenyi, seems to present itself in the letter of the wreath-maker of Nagyvárad. The representative of the old nobility of Bihar, Lajos Szilágyi, Sr., of Latinate education recalled his personal memories. Pál Kenéz, a retired pastor of the Reformed Church and long-forgotten poet, wrote a mediocre ode upon the occasion of Count Széchenyi’s death. These letters of condolences of noble intentions, just as the memorial services held, are expressive examples of the cult of Széchenyi already beginning to emerge.
