Magyar Egyház, 2008 (87. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2008-01-01 / 1. szám
8. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ However, he had a very strong self-awareness of being Hungarian, becoming the spiritual leader of the revolutionary radicals (who wanted full independence from the Habsburg Monarchy and a free Hungary). He wrote some of Hungary's greatest national poetry - from his poem, Nemzeti Dal ("National Song"): "On the God of the Hungarians \ We vow, \ We vow, that we will be slaves \ No longer!" - (literal translation). The family lived for a while in Szabadszállás, where his father owned a slaughterhouse. Within two years, the family moved to Kiskunfélegyháza, and Petőfi always viewed the city as The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 March 15, 1848 was Petőfi's day. Among the various leaders of the revolution - called Márciusi Ifjak ("Youths of March") - Petőfi was the key in starting the revolution in Pest, coauthor and, respectively, author of the two most important written documents: the 12 Pont (demands to the Habsburg Governor- General) and the Nemzeti Dal. When the news of the revolution in Vienna reached them on the 15th. Petőfi and his friends decided to change the date of the "National Assembly" (a rally where a petition to the Hungarian noblemen's assembly would be approved by the people), from execution of 13 leaders of the Hungarian Army (only a minority o which spoke Hungarian) in Arad and the Prime minister Batthyán; in Pest. The revolution's suppression Following the war of 1848-49, the whole country was ii "passive resistance". Archduke Albrecht von Habsburg wa appointed governor of the Kingdom of Hungary, and this time wa remembered for Germanization. Lajos Kossuth went into exile, with stations in the US/ (where a county in Iowa was named after him), Istanbul, Türke; and Turin, Italy. Deciding his biggest political error of th< Revolution was the confrontation with the minorities of Hungary he popularized the idea of a multi-ethnic confederation of republic along the Danube, which might have prevented the escalation o hostile feelings between the ethnic groups in these areas. Many o Kossuth's revolutionary comrades in exile, including the sons o one of his sisters, as well as other supporters of the 184! revolution, (usually referred as "forty-niners") stayed in the USA and fought on the Union side in the US Civil War. Sándor Petőfi Petőfi was born January 1, 1823, Kiskőrös, Hungary - died most likely July 31, 1849, in Segesvár, Hungary). He was : Hungarian national poet and a key figure in the Hungáriái Revolution of 1848. Early life His birth certificate, written in Latin, gives his name a; Alexander Petrovics. His father's first language was Hungarian (According to many sources, he was of Serb descent and hi: original name was Stevan Petrovic, while according to othei sources, he was of Slovak descent), and his mother was Márií Hrúzová (Hungarian: Hrúz Mária) who spoke only Slovak. Petőfi's entry in the parish register (kept at the Kiskőrös Petőfi Museum) his true birthplace. His father tried to give his son the best possible education, but when Sándor was 15 they lost their money due to the Danube floods of 1838 and the bankruptcy of a relative. Sándor had to leave the lyceum he attended in Selmecbánya (Banska Stiavnica). He had small jobs in various theatres in Pest, worked as a teacher in Ostffyasszonyfa and was a soldier in Sopron After a restless period of travelling Petőfi attended college at Pápa, where he met Mór Jókai, and a year later, in 1842, his poem A borozó ("The Pub") was first published in Athenaeum under the name Sándor Petrovics. On November 3 of the same year he published this poem, using the name "Petőfi" for the first time. However, Petőfi was more interested in the theatre. In 1842 he joined a travelling theatre, but then had to leave it. He tried to keep himself financially afloat by writing for a newspaper, but that wasn't enough. Malnourished and sick, he arrived in Debrecen, where his friends helped him get back on his feet. In 1844 he walked from Debrecen to Pest to find a publisher for his poems, in which he succeeded, and the poems were becoming increasingly popular. He relied on folkloric elements and popular, traditional song-like verses. ■ Among his longer works is the epic János Vitéz (1845, I "Sir John”). On the other hand, he felt he was forced into a folkish, I wine-and-pubs, low-quality niche by his publisher, while in fact he I also had an extensive Western-oriented education and I revolutionary passions to write about. (Of course, these would be I difficult to publish, due to the heavy censorship of the time). In 1846, he met Júlia Szendrey in Transylvania, and they I married the next year, against the will of her father, spending their I honeymoon in the castle of Count Sándor Teleki, the only I aristocrat among Petőfi's friends. Afterwards, he was even more I possessed by thoughts of a global revolution. He moved to Pest and I joined a group of like-minded students and intellectuals who I regularly met at Café Pilvax. They worked at promoting Hungarian I as a language of literature and theatre. (The first permanent theatre (the National Theatre) performing in Hungarian opened at this time.)
