Friday, October 23, 2009

Hungarian Memorial

Hungarian Monument by Gyuri Hollosy (1986) in Liberty Square Park, where citizens destroyed the British Stamp Act Office in 1765.

October 23rd is the anniversary of the 1956 Uprising. Memorial Day – Az 1956-os forradalom emléknapja. This national holiday commemorates the outbreak of the uprising against Soviet domination in 1956.

The memorial depicts a mound of rubble topped with a kneeling figure of a nude female holding her baby aloft, below her lies a fallen Hungarian soldier holding a flag pole flying the Hungarian flag. Protruding from the base of the rubble are several heads representing the students who fell during the Hungarian uprising. The figures are made of overlapping pieces of cast bronze. The sculpture rests on a circular granite base.

The memorial was commissioned by the Hungarian Society of Massachusetts to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution. A private endowment for maintenance was donated by Sargent Collier and Devens H. Hamlen. The memorial was first dedicated on October 23, 1986, but was dismantled on November 15-16, 1986 and stored until May 1989 when it was rededicated after the plaza in Liberty Square Park was completed.

"October 23, 1956, is a day that will live forever in the annals of free men and nations. It was a day of courage, conscience and triumph. No other day since history began has shown more clearly the eternal unquenchability of man's desire to be free, whatever the odds against success, whatever the sacrifice required." - John F. Kennedy, on the first anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution

7 comments:

amatamari© said...

Really a very beautiful monument: I like the shot with all the buildings behind!

John said...

As so often happens with memorials, a lot of thought goes in to them but decades later the passerby has little idea what they are about; they are just 'street art' unless you know the background.

Malyss said...

Interesting to discover in USA a monument dedicated to an European event, even if the fight for Liberty has an international meaning..
I agree with John about the power of memory, and the meaning of monuments for most of today's people.

Cezar and Léia said...

This monument is full of different details!
Thanks for these informative and beautiful post!
Have a nice weekend dear friend
Léia

Hilda said...

Sounds like a day that is both painful and glorious, and the sculpture caught both very well.

Lois said...

It's a beautiful memorial and a fascinating bit of history. Thanks!

Stefan Jansson said...

Interesting read. John is probably right about passers-by not knowing what it is.