Magyar Hírek, 1986 (39. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1986-02-26 / 4. szám
Seven years present exhibition area will be increased to permit tho showing of works that have stayed in storage owing to the shortage of display space. Exhibition of benefactors in the National Gallery A new exhibition opened at the National Gallery under the heading “Our Benefactors”. It includes work of art donated by private people to the Gallery since its establishment. One of these, a Battle Scene painted by a 17th century naive artist, came into the posse:ision of the Gallery from the Argentine, by way of a donation. A work of an unknown 18th century Hungarian sculptor, “Christ and the Samarian woman at the well” was donated by a local patron of the arts. “Portrait of a young woman”, painted by Adám Mányoki, a gift by an American Hungarian, is also exhibited as is the ]X>rtrait of Rozália Berzeviezy by János Barabás which was given to the museum by her descendants. The rich material also includes „Tátra landscape” by László Medn'yánszky which was returned from the United States, and László Paál’s “Heart of the Forest”, sent back by an Australian donor. Works by János Vaszary, Lajos Deák-Ebner, József Rippl-Rónai and Lajos Gulácsy — among others — represent the art of the first half of this century. A good number of works by contemporary artists were also donated. Margit Anna’s “Muse”, Tibor Csernus’s “Modellers”, a mosaic design of Jenő Barcsay, for instance, are also exhibited to mention just a few. The statue of Queen Elizabeth is to be re-erected in Budapest The statue of Queen Elizabeth, consort of Francis Joseph I., who was well-known for her fondness for Hungarians and also for the sincere love felt by the people of Hungary for her, was one of the pleasant sights of Budapest on Eskü tér, renamed 15th March tér, near the Danube. The statue, the work of György Zala, was unveiled on September 25th 19112 and stood there for twenty-four years, when it was dismantled and taken into a home for discarded statuary. Its re-erection was discussed some years ago, but the restoration of the damaged statue required much work. Parallel with the restoration carried out by Walter Madarassy senior and junior, artists also carved a pedestal for the statue that matches the original to perfection. It will be reerected this spring. Since Queen Elizabeth’s statue was removed from its original position important archeological excavations have been carried out there uncovering one of the archeological gems of Budapest, the remains of Roman Contra- Acquincum. This is the reason why the statue is to be re-erected on the opposite bank of the Danube, on Döbrentei tér, so that the sitting figure of the Queen will face the bridge named after her. The capital will thus regain one of its characteristic. works of art. Only the gloriette that once surrounded it will not be replaced — for the time being - owing to a temporary shortage of funds. But the reconstructed base of the statue will permit the rebuilding of the gloriette at a later date. On the 8th of September 1978 my wife, our son, Miklós, aged seventeen, our daughter, Márta, aged eight, and I set out from Hungary for an unknown world, to meet never-beforeseen people. As a Baptist minister, 1 accepted service under a scheme of exchanging ministers with the United States anil Canada, in congregations, where a Hungarian ministry is still needed. Up to now a total of nine ministers have undertaken such duties. We worked for seven years in the Kipling-Béke vár area in Canada. Many extended families of Hungarians still live there as communities. Even the third generation often speaks Hungarian quite well. There are others, who have never learnt to speak English. These are elderly people, mostly Protestants and they really need ministering to in Hungarian. The church of the Hungarian Calvinist Church, distinguished by having been declared a historic monument, stands almost desolate in the edge of the prairie. But at least once a year it is still filled.-The congregation pays homage to the memory of the pioneers of yore, to a tough past, which also left fond memories, at a joint divine service on the last Sunday of June. For seven years I preached the gospel in Hungarian to the populous congregation in Hungarian on every such occasion. But marriages were also celebrated there as well as funerals at special request. I was employed by the small Baptist congregation, but we served everybody, without discrimination, who wanted to worship in their native language, to sing, pray or share in the Lord’s Supper. Hospital visits enriched me with particularly unforgettable experiences. People of different denominations shared but one doctor, one minister and one God. That was where I came to realize that even people living under the best financial circiunstances have a great need of having their morale boosted, of a kind and loving word. According to the doctor, the value of proper ministering could be measured also by the decline in drug consumption. The situation was the same also at the Old Folks’ Home. Members of six different denominations, Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Baptists, Pentacostalians, Free Christians, and Jehovah’s Witnesses lived there together. And they all came to the services in Hungarian. Eight English-speaking ministers witnessed in amazement this miracle in the native language. They were barely able to shepherd their own flock but, everybody joyfully gathered to praise the Lord in Hungarian. Sometimes even the men and women working there had tears in their eyes watching these ancient Hungarians feeble in the limb but strong in spirit praying there together. While we were out there, I preached the words of solace in Hungarian at almost every funeral. Our church choir sang frequently also at the English services. This choir ws 3 repeatedly successful also at thj choir festivals held twice a year. The leader of the Baptist Church in Manitoba and Sask ache wan passed away with sad sudih nness. It was his wish that his remains should be laid to eternal rest in the Baptist cemetery of Bókevár. He was English born, but he loved the Hungarians. We became good friends. He often recalled the terrible days of the Second World War. He had served in the Royal Air Force. We felt common anguish about peace, prayed together and we did everything we could for it in our common field of service. His tomb will remain an eternal memento for us and teach us of friendship between the nations, and of a life to be lived in brotherly love and peace. When we bid good-by in September 1985, those, of the congregations present could only say “See you again”. Perhaps that will happen . . . They also handed us cheques, their contribution for the building fund of the planned new Budapest National Theatre. The number of those who return home on visits has also increased. Several people promised they would call on us in the beloved old Mother Country they can never forget. LAJOS OLÁH The Hungarian national football team ranked third The ranking worked out annually by the Internationale Sport Korrespondenz, basing the order of national teams on their performances in the previous year, is internationally considered to be authoritative. Mexico reached first place on the list based on 1985 results, having defeated great opponents, such as Poland (5:0), England (1:0) and the Federal Republic of Germany and Hungary (2:0 in both cases). The ISK classed the Soviet Union in second place. It defeated Morocco, the Federal Republic of Germany and Denmark 1:0, Yugoslavia 2:1, Iran 2:0, Switzerland 4:0, and Rumania as well as Ireland 2:0. Hungary’s third place is attributable to winning against three prestigious teams: the Federal Republic of Germany 1 :0, Austria and Wales 3:0. The national team also beat South Korea 1:0, and Algeri (3:1) on neutral ground and Cyprus by two goals to one. Third place is a great step forward for the Hungarian national team. It finished back in 21st position in 1983, and advanced to be 6th in 1984. 11 is to be hoped that the Hungarian national team will advance even further at the World Championship in Mexico but even holding on to third place would not be a mean achievement ! György Mezey, Tibor Nyilasi and Laios Détári SPORTS NEWS B ealth park in the Budapest Városliget Recently a new sports club was formed in Budapest, the Liget SE, which is intended to the organization of people who wish to exercise for the sake of their health. For this reason the club will have no competitive sports sections, but a gooil number of sections suitable for tbe most varied forms of fitness training, including jogging, cycling, gymnastics, karate, judo, basket-ball, hand-ball, volleyball, foot-tennis, football, squash, tennis and table-tennis. The club’s headquarters are right now in the Petőfi Hall in the Városliget. They would, however, like to make the Liget itself more suitable for fitness training first of all by banning motor vehicles which pollute the air of the park. They also plan to set up sports centres for non-competitive sporting activities in other parks in Budapest. 31
