The Day of Hungarian Poetry, celebrated annually on 11 April since 1964, honours the nation’s rich literary heritage and the enduring contributions of its poets, both past and present. From public transport recitations to literary gatherings, this vibrant celebration unites Hungarians in a shared appreciation for the power of language and the timeless themes of human experience captured in poetry.
Celebrate the Day of Hungarian Poetry by reading the English translation of poems written by some of the greatest Hungarian poets, Attila József, Miklós Radnóti, Mihály Vörösmarty, Endre Ady, and Dániel Berzsenyi!
Hungarians celebrate the National Poetry Day on 11 April; the birthday of the notable poet, Attila József.
‘The importance of the Orthodox rite of St Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of the 2,300-metre Mount Sinai (Jebel Musa, also known as Horeb) in the Sinai Peninsula grew only after the loss of Jerusalem in 1187 and the fall of the Latin states in the Holy Land in 1291…It is the oldest monastery in the world to have survived in this way, where, among other things, the oldest 4th-century Greek-language manuscript of the Bible, the Codex Siniaticus, has also been preserved.’
The online conference presenting the varied and numerous activities of the organizations of the Hungarian American community in North California was held on 25 October, following up on the first part of the event that took place on 27 September.
Protestants played an irreplaceable role in the formation of Hungarian literary language, as well as in the renewal of the language. It is no coincidence that Ferenc Kölcsey, who wrote the Hungarian National Anthem in 1823, was a student at the Reformed College in Debrecen for many years, just as it is no accident that it was in the same Debrecen, known as the Calvinist Rome, that the Hungarian National Assembly—headed by Lajos Kossuth, who hailed from a Lutheran small noble family—proclaimed the dethronement of the House of Habsburg on 14 April 1849.
Both Emese and her husband, László Kerkay have been cultivators of the rich Hungarian historical and cultural heritage and overall active contributors to the life of the Hungarian community of Passaic, New Jersey, having served at the Hungarian school for over 30 years: Emese as teacher and principal, László as treasurer. Emese has also been an active scout since the age of six and was a founding member and for 25 years curator of the American Hungarian Museum of Passaic.
An in-depth interview with Enkő Gorondi, founder and headmaster of the Aprókfalva Montessori Preschool and learning pod, a unique Hungarian daily educational institution in Piscataway, New Jersey; and her daughter, who, as a teacher, scout leader and folk dance teacher is also an active member of the local Hungarian community.
An in-depth interview with pianist and choir director Zsuzsánna Balla, who has lived in the United States for more than twenty years, and yet she and her family have preserved and continue to foster their Hungarian heritage, and are active and enthusiastic members of the Hungarian American community.
‘When discussing on a diaspora level, we should not just share local reports with each other, but actually try to find real solutions to the problems. For example, nowadays, we talk a lot about how to reach people who no longer speak Hungarian. To paraphrase a Sándor Kányádi poem: we have only one homeland, and that is the Hungarian language. If the language is lost, many great things will be lost as well.’
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.