The minister reminded all that the independent Hungarian Ministry of Finance was the first lasting success of the revolution. In April 1848, Lajos Kossuth began working on the establishment of the ministry, and it started its operations in May of that year.
On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the enactment of the legislation that laid the foundation for the operation of the national archives, the bank is issuing a silver commemorative coin with a face value of 15,000 forints and a coloured metal version with a face value of 3,000 forints.
Founding father and second US President John Adams, who also happened to pass away on 4 July, believed 2 July would be celebrated by generations to come, as The Resolution for Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress then. Only a handful of delegates signed the Declaration actually on 4 July 1776, and many of them did so as late as August 1776.
She founded her cosmetics company bearing her name, Estée Lauder, with her husband in 1946. Today, it is the second largest cosmetics company with a market cap of around $70 billion. Estée was the daughter of Jewish Hungarian immigrants who came to the US in 1898.
The Hungarian doctor was the first to introduce hand sanitation standards in a medical institution, which led to childbed mortality rate decreasing from 18 per cent to just two per cent at his Vienna obstetrical clinic. However, his ideas were tragically never accepted by his peers which led to his death in a mental ward.
Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl completed his magnum opus, the Liberty Statue of Budapest in 1947, in just two years. It was originally a monument dedicated to the ‘liberating’ Soviet forces at the end of World War II. However, elements of the composition alluding to its original purpose were removed, and it still stands tall on top of Gellért Hill as a beacon of Hungarian freedom today.
‘Szekfű described “capitalism” as “having grown in size over time, becoming a more and more fearsome monster, creating factories and cramming hundreds of thousands and millions of people into the unhealthy, immoral air of smoky cities. And the longer the unrestricted freedom proclaimed by liberalism lasts, the more freely the capitalist big business devours the little ones, the more freely it exploits the economic weaklings, especially the workers.” Szekfű’s book Three Generations, in which he also called for extensive worker protection and the regulation of industrialists by law, bears a striking resemblance to the basic tenets of socialism.’
On 28 June 1914, 109 years ago today, at around 11 o’clock in the morning, a 20-year-old anarchist assassin, Gavrilo Princip, fired several shots at the Archduke of the Austro–Hungarian Empire and his wife. The Sarajevo assassination became the casus belli for the ‘Great War’, as it was called back then, i.e., the First World War.
Karinthy is best remembered for his comedic masterpieces, such as the collection of literary parodies, Így írtok ti (That’s How You Write!), and the collection of sketches about secondary school life, Tanár úr, kérem! (Please, Sir!). Every year, the best comedian in Hungary is rewarded with the Karinthy Ring. However, the man himself was not the exuberant, fun-seeking personality his best-known works may suggest.
The cogwheel railway, which is 149 years old today, is one of Budapest’s oldest means of public transportation. It is not only considered pioneering in domestic transportation, but also among similar mountain railways worldwide: it was the third to be completed in Europe.
In 1860, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and King of Hungary issued a decree mandating the establishment of commodity exchanges in the major cities of the Habsburg Empire. As a result, the Pest Lloyd Association was commissioned to create a stock exchange plan, which not only included a commodity exchange but also envisioned the establishment of a stock exchange.
Foky was a pioneer in stop-motion animation. His best-known works are the award-winning short Babfilm (Pea Film, 1975), Mirr-Murr kandúr kalandjai (The Adventures of Mirr-Murr the Tomcat, 1972–1972), and, of course, the TV Bear.
The Hungarian military was commemorating the National Defence Day with a whole slew of fun activities for families which included climbing inside and on top of tanks, an obstacle course, and meeting with the Olympic medalist athletes of the Sports Battalion.
Hungary’s first female president took office in especially troubled times with a war raging in a neighbouring country. However, despite the challenges, she grew into the role of president quite fast and seamlessly, and has represented Hungary country in many high-profile diplomatic missions since her inauguration.
‘Slovakia has turned thirty years old. Whether the past three decades can be considered a success story remains an open question. The Slovak nation achieved the independence it had always wanted.’
Marking the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Tibor Benkő, the Hungarian minister of defence at the start of the war, and György Nógrádi, acclaimed security policy expert discussed the war at an event organised by the Batthyány Lajos Foundation.
Hungary’s national anthem, the Hymn was written 200 years ago by Ferenc Kölcsey.
Hungary’s greatest philosophical poet Imre Madách, author of The Tragedy of Man, was born 200 years ago today.
This day marks the 25th anniversary of the tragic death of Princess Diana. Some circumstances of the accident are still unclear, but what is certain is that she is remembered fondly all over the world, including in Hungary.
53 years after the Moon landing many still question the necessity of space exploration, but it is unquestionable that the desire to expand the boundaries of what we know has provided great benefits to our societies.
The Russel-Einstein Manifesto provides a great insight into why our differences must be set aside in order to abolish the threat of nuclear Armageddon.
The horrors of totalitarianism have left deep, perhaps even fatal wounds in the identity of the West. It even seems that the further we move away from the actual events, the more we struggle with our past.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.