South Africa’s Hungarian community commemorates national day Special

Pretoria - South Africa’s small Hungarian community in the Johannesburg-Pretoria area gathered in Pretoria today to commemorate the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, which broke out on March 15 of that year.

In a bloodless revolution, the Hungarians rejected Austrian Absolutism and reformed their medieval constitution into a modern, democratic one based on the British Westminster system. The reformists demanded the abolition of serfdom, which gain eventually remained, despite the crushing of the revolution. They also demanded an independent judiciary, regular voting for parliament, and all the elements of a system that was functioning in Britain and the United States as well as some other countries, such as Switzerland. The problem was, of course, that such ideas were contagious.

Christopher Szabo

"Talpra magyar, híj a haza!" In Sándor Petőfi's emotive poem, Fábián Józsa calls on Hungarians to "Arise, your country is calling you!"

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The revolution terrified the Absolutists in Europe, who made an alliance to crush the new democracy. Austria, Russia and Prussia agreed they would not allow such a thing in their midst and soon Austrian troops invaded Hungary.

Christopher Szabo

Ambassador István Emri introduced the main speaker at the event.

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Following a long and bloody War of Independence that saw 200,000 Russian troops added to Austrian forces, democracy in Hungary was temporarily crushed.

Christopher Szabo

László Mandur, Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, surprised some of those taking part by calling on them to be proud Hungarians. This was unusual as patriotism is strongly frowned upon in Hungary. (But not in South Africa!)

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Three two key figures of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 were the fiery poet Sándor Petőfi and the calm, aristocratic Count István Széchenyi, as well as the parliamentary leader, Lajos Kossuth. Kossuth is one of the few non-Americans to have a statue in the Capitol in Washington DC.

Christopher Szabo

The revolutionary cockade on the embassy's wall beneath which can be seen Count Széchenyi and to his right, a photo of the poet, Petőfi.

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The annual event is commemorated at the Hungarian Embassy in Pretoria, with community members from Johannesburg and elsewhere driving to the capital. Other events are hosted at the Hungarian Alliance between Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Christopher Szabo

Ambassador Emri gives one of the younger singers a present.

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Christopher Szabo

After the official programme, Hungarians do what they love best - eating!

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