Sándor Petőfi
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Sándor Petőfi ( []; né Petrovics; sk, Alexander Petrovič; sr, Александар Петровић; 1 January 1823 – most likely 31 July 1849) was a Hungarian poet of Serbian origin and
liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
revolutionary. He is considered Hungary's
national poet A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbo ...
, and was one of the key figures of the
Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although th ...
. He is the author of the ''
Nemzeti dal The Nemzeti dal (''"National Song"'') is a Hungarian patriotic poem written by Sándor Petőfi that is said to have inspired the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Petőfi read the poem aloud on March 15 on the steps of the Hungarian National Museum in ...
'' (National Song), which is said to have inspired the
revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
in the
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
that grew into a war for independence from the
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
. It is most likely that he died in the
Battle of Segesvár The Battle of Segesvár (Transylvania, now Sighișoara, Romania), also called the Battle of Fehéregyháza, was a battle in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, fought on 31 July 1849 between the Hungarian revolutionary army under the command of Li ...
, one of the last battles of the war.


Early life

Petőfi was born on the New Year's morning of 1823, in the town of
Kiskőrös Kiskőrös ( sk, Malý Kereš / Kiškereš, yi, קישקעריש ''Kishkerish'', german: Körösch, hr, Kireš) is a town in Bács-Kiskun, Hungary. Kiskőrös is situated between the Danube and Tisza rivers at around . Sándor Petőfi, the nati ...
,
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
. The population of Kiskőrös was predominantly of Slovak origin as a consequence of the
Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
' reconstruction policy designed to settle, where possible, non-Hungarians in areas devastated during the
Turkish wars A series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states took place from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia in ...
. His birth certificate, in
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, gives his name as "''Alexander Petrovics''", where "''
Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
''" is the Latin equivalent of the Hungarian "'' Sándor''". His father, () , was a village butcher, innkeeper and he was a second-generation
Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
or Slovak immigrant to the
Great Hungarian Plain The Great Hungarian Plain (also known as Alföld or Great Alföld, hu, Alföld or ) is a plain occupying the majority of the modern territory of Hungary. It is the largest part of the wider Pannonian Plain. (However, the Great Hungarian plain ...
. Mária Hrúz, Petőfi's mother, was a servant and laundress before her marriage. She was of Slovak descent and spoke Hungarian with something of an accent. Petőfi's parents first met in
Maglód Maglód is a town in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. History The name of Maglód was first mentioned in about 1200 by Anonymus in his narrative, according to which the grandfathers of the seventh leader of the conquest, Tét ...
, married in
Aszód Aszód is a town in Pest county, Hungary. History During World War II, Aszód was captured on 7 December 1944 by Soviet troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front in the course of the Budapest Offensive. Notable residents * Sándor Petőfi, Hungaria ...
and moved to Kiskőrös a year before the birth of the poet. The family lived for some time in
Szabadszállás Szabadszállás is a small town in Bács-Kiskun county, Hungary, 80 kilometres south of Budapest by rail. The town is surrounded by several areas of the Kiskunság National Park. Twin cities * Schönenberg-Kübelberg Schönenberg-Kübelberg is ...
, where his father owned a slaughterhouse. Within two years, the family moved to
Kiskunfélegyháza Kiskunfélegyháza (; german: Feulegaß) is a city in Bács-Kiskun County, Hungary. Geography Kiskunfélegyháza is located in the middle of the Great Hungarian Plain, southeast from Budapest. M5 motorway, Highway 5, 451, Budapest–Cegléd–Sz ...
, and Petőfi always viewed the city as his true home. His father tried to give his son the best possible education and sent him to a
lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the th ...
, but when Sándor was 15, the family went through a financially difficult period, due to the
Danube flood The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
s of 1838 and the bankruptcy of a relative. Sándor had to leave the lyceum which he was attending in Selmecbánya (today ''Banská Štiavnica'' in Slovakia). He held small jobs in various theatres in Pest, worked as a teacher in Ostffyasszonyfa, and spent some months as a soldier in
Sopron Sopron (; german: Ödenburg, ; sl, Šopron) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century When the area that is today Western Hungary was a province of the Roman Empire, a ...
. After a restless period of travelling, Petőfi attended college at
Pápa Pápa is a historical town in Veszprém county, Hungary, located close to the northern edge of the Bakony Hills, and noted for its baroque architecture. With its 32,473 inhabitants (2011), it is the cultural, economic and tourism centre of the re ...
, where he met
Mór Jókai Móric Jókay de Ásva (, known as ''Mór Jókai''; 18 February 1825 – 5 May 1904), outside Hungary also known as Maurus Jokai or Mauritius Jókai, was a Hungarian nobleman, novelist, dramatist and revolutionary. He was an active participant ...
. A year later in 1842, his poem "''A borozó''" (The Wine Drinker) was first published in the literary magazine ''
Athenaeum Athenaeum may refer to: Books and periodicals * ''Athenaeum'' (German magazine), a journal of German Romanticism, established 1798 * ''Athenaeum'' (British magazine), a weekly London literary magazine 1828–1921 * ''The Athenaeum'' (Acadia U ...
'' under the name ''Sándor Petrovics''. On 3 November the same year, he published the poem under the surname "Petőfi" for the first time. Petőfi was more interested in the theatre. In 1842 he joined a travelling theatre, but had to leave it to earn money. He wrote for a newspaper, but could not make enough from it. Malnourished and sick, he went to
Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...
, where his friends helped him to get back on his feet. In 1844 he walked from Debrecen to Pest to find a publisher for his poems and he succeeded. His 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 János or Janos may refer to: * János, male Hungarian given name, a variant of John Places * Janos Municipality, a municipality of Chihuahua ** Janos, Chihuahua, town in Mexico ** Janos Biosphere Reserve, a nature reserve in Chihuahua * Janos ...
''" (John the Valiant; 1845). The poem is a fairy-tale notable for its length, 370 quatrains divided into 27 chapters, and for its clever wordplay. It has gained immense popularity in
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
,It has several musical and film adaptations and is today considered a classic of
Hungarian literature Hungarian literature is the body of written works primarily produced in Hungarian,
.
however, Petőfi felt influenced by his editor, Imre Vahot, to continue writing folklore-style poems, while he wanted to use his Western-oriented education and write about growing revolutionary passions. (The government's censorship would have made such works difficult to publish.)


Marriage and family

In 1846, he met
Júlia Szendrey Júlia Szendrey (29 December 1828 – 6 September 1868) was a Hungarian poet, writer and translator, most known as the wife of celebrated Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi. Life and works Júlia Szendrey was born in Újmajor, Keszthely, her fathe ...
in
Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
. They married the next year, despite the opposition of her father, and spent their honeymoon at the castle of Count ), the only aristocrat among Petőfi's friends. Their only son Zoltán was born on 15 December 1848.


Political career

Petőfi became more possessed by thoughts of a global revolution. He and Júlia moved to Pest, where he joined a group of like-minded students and intellectuals who regularly met at . They worked on promoting Hungarian as the language of literature and theatre, formerly based on German. The first permanent Hungarian theatre (''Pesti Magyar Színház''), which later became the National Theater, was opened in that time (1837).


The Hungarian Revolution of 1848

Among the various young leaders of the revolution, called ''Márciusi Ifjak'' (Youths of March), Petőfi was the key in starting the revolution in Pest. He was co-author and author, respectively, of the two most important written documents: the '' 12 Pont'' (12 Points, demands to the Habsburg Governor-General) and the ''"
Nemzeti Dal The Nemzeti dal (''"National Song"'') is a Hungarian patriotic poem written by Sándor Petőfi that is said to have inspired the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Petőfi read the poem aloud on March 15 on the steps of the Hungarian National Museum in ...
"'', his revolutionary poem. When the news of the revolution in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
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 19 March to the 15th. On the morning of the 15th, Petőfi and the revolutionaries began to march around the city of Pest, reading his poem and the "12 Points" to the growing crowd, which attracted thousands. Visiting printers, they declared an end to censorship and printed the poem and "12 Points". Crowds forced the mayor to sign the "12 Points" and later held a mass demonstration in front of the newly built
National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...
, then crossed to
Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...
on the other bank of the Danube. When the crowd rallied in front of the Imperial governing council, the representatives of
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
felt they had to sign the "12 Points". As one of the points was freedom for political prisoners, the crowd moved to greet the newly freed revolutionary poet
Mihály Táncsics Mihály Táncsics ( sr, Михајло Танчић, Mihajlo Tančić; 21 April 1799 – 28 June 1884) was a Hungarian writer, teacher, journalist and politician. Life Mihály Táncsics was born on 21 April 1799 in the village of Ácsteszér ...
. Petőfi's popularity waned as the memory of the glorious day faded, and the revolution went the way of high politics: to the leadership of the nobles. Those in the noblemen's Assembly in
Pozsony Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...
, (today ''Bratislava'') had been pushing for slower reforms at the same time, which they delivered to the Emperor on the 13th, but events had overtaken them briefly. Petőfi disagreed with the Assembly, and criticised their view of the goals and methods of the Revolution. (His colleague Táncsics was imprisoned again by the new government.) In the general election, Petőfi ran in his native area, but did not win a seat. At this time, he wrote his most serious poem, ''Az Apostol'' (The Apostle). It was an
epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
about a fictional revolutionary who, after much suffering, attempts, but fails, to assassinate a fictitious king. Petőfi joined the Hungarian Revolutionary Army and fought under the Polish
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
General
Józef Bem Józef Zachariasz Bem ( hu, Bem József, tr, Murat Pasha; March 14, 1794 – December 10, 1850) was a Polish engineer and general, an Ottoman pasha and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European patriot ...
, in the ''Transylvanian army''. The army was initially successful against Habsburg troops, but after Tsar
Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I , group=pron ( – ) was List of Russian rulers, Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He was the third son of Paul I of Russia, Paul I and younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I ...
intervened to support the Habsburgs, it was defeated. Petőfi was last seen alive in the
Battle of Segesvár The Battle of Segesvár (Transylvania, now Sighișoara, Romania), also called the Battle of Fehéregyháza, was a battle in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, fought on 31 July 1849 between the Hungarian revolutionary army under the command of Li ...
on 31 July 1849.


Death

Petőfi is believed to have been killed in action during the battle of Segesvár by the
Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
. A Russian military doctor recorded an account of Petőfi's death in his diary. As his body was never officially found, rumours of Petőfi's survival persisted. In his autobiographical
roman a clef Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
''Political Fashions'' (''Politikai divatok'', 1862),
Mór Jókai Móric Jókay de Ásva (, known as ''Mór Jókai''; 18 February 1825 – 5 May 1904), outside Hungary also known as Maurus Jokai or Mauritius Jókai, was a Hungarian nobleman, novelist, dramatist and revolutionary. He was an active participant ...
imagined his late friend's "resurrection". In the novel Petőfi (the character named Pusztafi) returns ten years later as a shabby, ''déclassé'' figure who has lost his faith in everything, including poetry. Although for many years his death at Segesvár had been assumed, in the late 1980s Soviet investigators found archives that revealed that after the battle about 1,800 Hungarian prisoners of war were marched to
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
. Alternative theories suggest that he was one of them and died of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
in 1856. In 1990, an expedition was organised to Barguzin,
Buryatia Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia (russian: Республика Бурятия, r=Respublika Buryatiya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə bʊˈrʲætʲɪjə; bua, Буряад Улас, Buryaad Ulas, , mn, Буриад Улс, Buriad Uls), is ...
, Siberia, where
archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
claimed to have unearthed Petőfi's skeleton. Furthermore, in Hungary they have a saying after him: "Eltűnt, mint Petőfi a ködben" (Disappeared, like Petőfi in the fog).


Poetry

Petőfi started his career as a poet with "popular situation songs", a genre to which his first published poem, ''A borozó'' ("The Wine Drinker", 1842), belongs. It is the song of a drinker praising the healing power of wine to drive away all troubles. This kind of pseudo-folk song was not unusual in Hungarian poetry of the 1840s, but Petőfi soon developed an original and fresh voice which made him stand out. He wrote many folk song-like poems on the subjects of wine, love, romantic robbers etc. Many of these early poems have become classics, for example the love poem ''A virágnak megtiltani nem lehet'' ("You Cannot Forbid the Flower", 1843), or ''Befordultam a konyhára'' ("I Turned into the Kitchen", 1843) which uses the ancient metaphor of love and fire in a playful and somewhat provocative way. The influence of folk poetry and 19th-century populism is very significant in Petőfi's work, but other influences are also present: Petőfi drew on sources such as
topoi In mathematics, a topos (, ; plural topoi or , or toposes) is a category that behaves like the category of sheaves of sets on a topological space (or more generally: on a site). Topoi behave much like the category of sets and possess a noti ...
of contemporary
almanac An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is an annual publication listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and other ...
-poetry in an inventive way, and was familiar with the works of major literary figures of his day, including
Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...
,
Pierre-Jean de Béranger Pierre-Jean de Béranger (19 August 178016 July 1857) was a prolific France, French poet and Chansonnier (singer), chansonnier (songwriter), who enjoyed great popularity and influence in France during his lifetime, but faded into obscurity in the ...
and
Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...
. Petőfi's early poetry was often interpreted as some kind of role-playing, due to the broad range of situations and voices he created and used. Recent interpretations however call attention to the fact that in some sense all lyrical poetry can be understood as role-playing, which makes the category of "role-poems" (coined especially for Petőfi) superfluous. While using a variety of voices, Petőfi created a well-formed
persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally ref ...
for himself: a jaunty, stubborn loner who loves wine, hates all kinds of limits and boundaries and is passionate in all he feels. In poems such as ''Jövendölés'' ("Prophecy", 1843) he imagines himself as someone who will die young after doing great things. This motif recurs in the revolutionary poetry of his later years. The influence of contemporary almanac-poetry can be best seen in the poem cycle ''Cipruslombok Etelke sírjára'' ("Branches of Cypress for Etelke's Tomb", 1845). These sentimental poems, which are about death, grief, love, memory and loneliness were written after a love interest of Petőfi's, Etelke Csapó, died. In the years 1844–1845, Petőfi's poetry became increasingly subtle and mature. New subjects appeared, such as landscape. His most influential landscape poem is ''Az Alföld'' ("The Plains"), in which he says that his homeland, the Hungarian plains are more beautiful and much dearer than the
Carpathian mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
; it was to become the foundation of a long-lived fashion: that of the plains as the typical Hungarian landscape. Petőfi's poetic skills solidified and broadened. He became a master of using different kinds of voices, for example his poem ''A régi, jó Gvadányi'' ("The Good Old Gvadányi") imitates the style of , a Hungarian poet who lived at the end of the 18th century. Petőfi maintained a lifelong friendship with
János Arany János Arany (; archaic English: John Arany; 2 March 1817 – 22 October 1882) was a Hungarian poet, writer, translator and journalist. He is often said to be the "Shakespeare of ballads" – he wrote more than 102 ballads that have been transl ...
, another significant poet of the time. Arany was the godfather of Petőfi's son .


Honours and memorials

After the Revolution was crushed, Petőfi's writing became immensely popular, while his rebelliousness served as a role model ever since for Hungarian revolutionaries and would-be revolutionaries of every political colour. Hungarian composer and contemporary
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
composed the piano piece ''
Dem Andenken Petőfis ''Dem Andenken Petőfis'' (''In Petőfi's Memory''; its original Hungarian title was "Petőfi szellemének") is a piece for piano by Franz Liszt, who was a contemporary of Sándor Petőfi. Written in 1877, it is an elegy, like many of Liszt's work ...
'' (''In Petőfi's Memory'') in his honour. Liszt has also set several of Petőfi's poems to music. In 1911, a statue of Sándor Petőfi was erected in Pressburg (Pozsony, present-day
Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
), on the Main Square. In 1918, after the army of the newly independent First Czechoslovak Republic occupied the city, the statue was dynamited. After this sculpture was boarded over round temporarily until its removal, and replaced with a statue of Slovak poet
Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav (2 February 1849 - 8 November 1921) was a Slovak poet, dramatist, translator, and for a short time, member of the Czechoslovak parliament. Originally, he wrote in a traditional style, but later became influenced by pa ...
. Today, there is a statue of Petőfi in the Medic Garden (Medická záhrada). During the late 1940s,
Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (; rus, Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к, p=bɐˈrʲis lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ pəstɛrˈnak; 30 May 1960) was a Russian poet, novelist, composer and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pa ...
produced acclaimed translations of Petőfi's poems into the Russian language. Today, schools, streets and squares are named after him throughout Hungary and Hungarian-speaking regions of neighbouring states; in Budapest alone, there are 11 Petőfi streets and 4 Petőfi squares, see:
Public place names of Budapest Budapest is the capital of Hungary. Below is a list of public place names of Budapest that refer to famous people, cities or historic events. Generality of Budapest's public place names relate to the Hungarian national history. In Budapest there are ...
. A national radio station (Radio Petőfi), a
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
and a street in
Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
, Bulgaria also bear his name, as well as the
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
4483 Petöfi, a member of the
Hungaria family The Hungaria asteroids, also known as the Hungaria group, are a dynamical group of asteroids in the asteroid belt which orbit the Sun with a semi-major axis (longest radius of an ellipse) between 1.78 and 2.00 astronomical units (AU). They are t ...
. Every Hungarian primary school child learns some of his poems by heart . The Hungarian 10 Forint banknote valid between 1947 and 1992 depicted Sándor Petőfi on the obverse. Petőfi has a larger than life
terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
statue near the Pest end of
Erzsébet Bridge Elisabeth Bridge ( hu, Erzsébet híd) is the third newest bridge of Budapest, Hungary, connecting Buda and Pest across the River Danube. The bridge is situated at the narrowest part of the Danube in the Budapest area, spanning only 290 m. ...
, sculpted by
Miklós Izsó Miklós Izsó ( hu, Izsó Miklós, german: Nikolaus Izsó; September 9, 1831, Disznós-Horvát (now ''" Izsófalva"'', Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, north-east Hungary) - May 29, 1875, Budapest) was a Hungarian sculptor whose sculptural style ...
and . Similar Petőfi statues were established in many other cities, as well, during the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
Hugó Meltzl Hugó Meltzl of Lomnitz (31 July 1846 – 20 January 1908) was a Hungarian scholar who was a knowledgeable professor at, and later rector of, the Franz Joseph University. Life Hugó Meltzl was born in Szászrégen, Hungary (now Reghin, Romania ...
was who made well known the works of Sándor Petőfi in abroad. E.g. Petőfi, Gedichte. München, 1867; Petőfi's Wolken. Lübeck, 1882; Petőfi's ausgewählte Gedichte. München, 1883. In
Uzhhorod Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the B ...
, Ukraine, there is a city square named after Sándor Petőfi, in
Oradea Oradea (, , ; german: Großwardein ; hu, Nagyvárad ) is a city in Romania, located in Crișana, a sub-region of Transylvania. The county seat, seat of Bihor County, Oradea is one of the most important economic, social and cultural centers in the ...
, Romania, a street and a park, and in
Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarnów ...
, Poland a Petőfi Memorial Square with a hand-carved Székely gate leading to Petőfi's bust. Postage stamps issued by Hungary: *Two issued on 12 June 1919 in his honour *Five on 13 January 1923 on the centenary of his birth *One on 16 October 1948 in the Poets and Writers series *Three on 31 July 1949 for the death centenary *One on 15 March 1952 in the series Heroes of the 1848 Revolution *Three on 30 December 1972 commemorating the 150th anniversary of his birth


In popular culture

Since 29 June 2021, Petőfi has appeared as a recurring historical character living in modern-day England in The Family Histories Podcast series. He is voiced by the Hungarian children's author and illustrator, John Spike. His presence is explained by the host Andrew Martin as due to a "simple miscalculated accident with his kitchen"S01EP05 'The Quack' with Valmay Young
The Family Histories Podcast, 2021, Series One, Episode 5
– a reference to Petőfi's 1843 poem "Befordultam a konyhára" (I turned into the kitchen), and the time machine used at the end of each podcast episode.


See also

*
List of people who disappeared Lists of people who disappeared include those whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated. Many people who disappear are eventually declared dead ''in absentia''. Some of these people were possibly subjected to enfo ...


Notes


References


External links

* *
Sándor Petőfi on a Hungarian banknote from 1957Complete works (in Hungarian)Morvai's expedition (in Slovak)
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Petofi, Sandor 1823 births 1840s missing person cases 1849 deaths 19th-century Hungarian male writers 19th-century Hungarian poets Epic poets Hungarian Lutherans Hungarian male poets Hungarian people of Serbian descent Hungarian people of Slovak descent Hungarian Revolution of 1848 Lutheran poets Missing person cases in Romania People from Kiskőrös People of the Revolutions of 1848