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Sándor Petőfi (1823 - 1849) was a Hungarian national poet and a key figure in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.
Petofi_Sandor.jpg
Petőfi was born on january 1, 1823 in Kiskőrös as Alexander Petrovics, Austria-Hungary. His father was István Petrovics whose native language was Hungarian (though he was of Serbian descent), his mother was Mária Hrúzová whose native language was Slovak. Within two years the family had moved to Kiskunfélegyháza and Petőfi considered the city as his true birthplace. His father tried to give his son the best education possible, but when Sándor was 15 they lost their money due to the flood of Danube of 1838 and the bankruptcy of a relative. Sándor had to leave the Selmeci Líceum (the school). He did small works for theatres in Pest, was a teacher in Ostffyasszonyfa and a soldier in Sopron.
After a restless period of travelling Petőfi attended the college of Pápa, where he first met Mór Jókai, and after a year, in 1842 his poem (A borozó, the pub) was first published in Athenaeum under the name "Sándor Petrovics". On November 3 of the same year he published this poem under the name "Petőfi" for the first time.
However, Petőfi was more interested in theatre. In 1842 he joined a travelling theatre, but had to abandon it. He tried to keep himself financially afloat by writing copies of a newspaper, but that wasn't enough. Malnourished and sick, he arrived in Debrecen, where his friends helped him back on his feet.
In 1844 he walked from Debrecen to Pest to find a publisher for his poems, in which he succeeded this time, and the poems were becoming increasingly popular. He used folklore elements and popular, traditional song-like verses heavily. Among his longer works is the epic János Vitéz (1845, in English: John the Valiant, ISBN 1843910845). On the other hand, he felt he is constrained to a folkish, wine-and-pubs, low-quality niche by his publisher, while in truth he also had extensive Western-oriented education and revolutionary passions to write about (which he would have had difficulty to publish anyway, as there was strong censorship at the time).
In 1846 he met Júlia Szendrey in Transylvania (Erdély), and they married the next year despite the will of her father, and spent their honeymoon in the castle of Sándor Teleki, the only aristocrat amongst the friends of Petőfi. Afterwards, he was ever more possessed by the thought of a global revolution. He moved to Pest, and joined a group of like-minded students and intellectuals who regularly met at Café Pilvax.
The Hungarian Revolution of 1848
March 15, 1848 was Petőfi's day. Among the various leaders of the revolution - called márciusi ifjak ("Youths of March") - Petőfi was the key member in starting the revolution in Pest, and co-author resp. author of the two most important written (and recited) documents: the 12 pont ("12 points (http://home.flash.net/~igazda/dms_hist_1848.htm)", ie. demands) and the Nemzeti Dal ("National Song (http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Gallery/4602/Petofi.htm)").
When the news of the revolution of Vienna reached them on the 15th, Petőfi and his friends decided to change the date of the "national assembly" they planned (they just planned a rally where a petition to the Hungarian noblemen's assembly would have been approved by the people) from the original March 19th to the 15th. (Which was a lucky decision, for the authorities knew about their plans and planned to arrest the revolutionaries on the 18th.)
On the morning of the 15th, the revolutionary youth around Petőfi began to march around the city of Pest, reading the poem and the 12 points around to the people, gathering a crowd of thousands in the process. Thereafter, they visited presses, where they declared the end of censorship, and had Petőfi's poem and the 12 pont printed. The major was also pressed to sign the 12 pont by the protesters. Later on, a mass demonstration was held in front of the newly built National Museum, from which the masses left for the other bank of the Danube: to Buda. When the crowd rallied in front of the imperial governing council's seat, the representatives of the Emperor felt they have no choice but to sign the 12 points. As one point was freedom for political prisoners, the crowd then moved on to greet newly freed revolutionary poet Mihály Táncsics.
Petőfi's popularity waned as the memory of the glorious day started to fade, and the revolution went on by the ways of high politics: with the leadership of the nobles. The nobles in the noblemen's assembly (seated in Pozsony/Bratislava) in fact have been pushing for slow reforms at the same time, delivering a list of demands to the Emperor on the 13th, but events overtook them - yet they managed to get back in control. Petőfi disagreed with the decisions of the assembly, and criticised the way they imagined the goals and ways of the revolution. (It wasn't just him: in fact, his collague Táncsics was imprisoned again by the new government!) In general elections, he nominated himself in his native area, but wasn't elected. At this time, he wrote his most serious poem, the epic Az Apostol (The Apostle, an epic about a fictional revolutionary who after much suffering attempts to assassinate a fictious king, but fails.)
Petőfi joined Polish revolutionary general Bem's Transsylvanian army. That army fought a successful campaign against Habsburg troops, Romanian and Transsylvanian German militias, but was defeated repeatedly when the Russians intervened to aid the Austrians. He was seen last time in the battle of Segesvár (Sighişoara), July 31, 1849. The circumstances of his death are mysterious and debated. Mainstream opinion is that he died in the battle, but some believe he was captured and brought to Russia where he was killed, or died naturally.
After the Revolution was crushed, Petőfi's memory again began to shine, his poems were popular, and his rebelliousness served as role model for Hungarian revolutionaries and would-be revolutionaries of every political colour ever since.
External links
- Some poems in English (http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Gallery/4602/Petofi.htm)
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