Arrabona - Múzeumi közlemények 35/1-2. (Győr, 1997)

Tanulmányok - Hegedűs Sándor: The Sopron Literary and Art Circle in Service of Hungarian Patroitism

Circle was established relatively lately, after more than a decade of preparations, in 1908. The 30 founding members elected one year later 16 new fellows. The first president was an attorney, Viktor Kramolin, who had held this office at the head of the Toldy Literary Circle in Pozsony (Bratislava). Among the members there were jurists, working in public administration, who practiced mostly belles-lettres, while priests and teachers were keen on producing scholarly works on history, literature and local history. The activities of the Circle included monthly meetings, when papers were read, as well as organizing literary competitions and publishing annuals. Some members who rose above the average provincial standard were Sándor Gieszwein, László Erdélyi, István Domonkos, Géza Gárdonyi and Lajos Harsányi. Sándor Hegedűs The Sopron Literary and Art Circle in Service of Hungarian Patriotism The Sopron Literary and Art Circle was founded, after the approval of the Ministry of the Interior, on the 4th of February, 1877. Its founding president was Adolf Frankenburg, a renowned writer of the reform period. The vice-president was Iván Paur, an excellent archaeologist at the local museum, the secretary general Dániel Erdődi, teacher at the Benedictine secondary school, and the librarian Ede Moller, a teacher at the modern school. In order to supervise the activity of the Circle, a presidium of 1 8 members was elected, including, among other personalities, Dr. Endre Baán, lawyer and journalist, Count Imre Széchényi and Vince Simon, provost of Csorna. The list of the founding members includes further Prince Pál Esterházy, Count Béla Széchenyi and the wife of baron László Solymossy. The second paragraph of the constitution stated that the main asset of the circle is "to extend, promote and develop culture in the vernacular language and patriotic spirit, and, connceted with this intention, to elevate Hungarian social life". According to these aims, the leaders of the Circle elaborated a plan to organize literary and scientific programs, to purchase newspapers and journals, to establish a library, and to organize social meetings. On the founding session, president Adolf Frankenburg named as a guiding principle not only enthusiasm for partiotic purposes, but readiness for active work in promoting and fostering Hungarian culture and mentality. He set István Széchenyi and Pál Felsőbüki Nagy as examples for the members of the Circle. In order to strengthen Hungarian patriotism, several literary, scientific, and musical programs were organized in the officialrooms of the circle, in the building of the Sopron Casino (now the Cultural Centre). In the course of evening lectures on literature, the following writers among others presented their works: Jenő Rákosi, Zsolt Beöthy, Ármin Vámbéry, Pál gyulay and Ferenc Herceg from Budapest; Gyula Szávay, Lajos Harsányi, Sándor Gieswein and Jenő Kuncz from Győr. Besides them, authors from several Hungarian country towns appeared as guests of the meeting of the Sopron circle. Famous performers of the musical programs included Ferenc Liszt and Béla Bartók. The library of the circle was continuously enriched thanks to public contributions; furthermore Hungarian courses were organized for speakers of German, as well as German courses for speakers of Hungarian. ARRABONA 35/1-2.