Fraternity-Testvériség, 1963 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1963-08-01 / 8. szám

FRATERNITY

7

ALFONZ LENGYEL:

THE LIFE AND ART

OF

ALEXANDER FINTA

HUN G ARI AN -AMERICAN SCULPTOR

Continuation of

Chapter V

FINTA SETTLES IN THE UNITED STATES

Finta designed the plaque presented to the major of Pittsburgh on the occasion of the centennial celebrations held in honor of Lajos Kossuth, leader of the 1848-1849 Hungarian Revolution. The plaque shows Liberty welcoming Hungária, who is attempting to cover her naked child with a ragged veil, and symbolizes the tragic plight of the Hungarian emigrants and their cordial reception in this country.

The sculptor also designed Kossuth memorials for St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. The reliefs, Education and Pledge, in Public School No. 82 in New York, are also his work.

Finta was also a prolific writer and poet. He was an honorary member of the Edgar Allen Poe Literary Society of America. Manuscripts containing 1,000 poems are now in the possession of his widow. His Herdboy of Hungary was a best-seller in 1932; My Brother and I was also a great success. Short stories by Finta were published in Target and his “Chico” was acclaimed the “Best Short Story of 1934.” Another, entitled “Trial by Steel”, won a $1,200 prize from Pictorial Review.

Finta’s poems, short stories and novels reflect