Stories
Petofi
Sándor Petőfi
A famous revolutionary poet
One of the names I learned when I arrived here is Sándor Petőfi's name. He is a famous Hungarian liberal and revolutionary poet, well known in this city because he spent his last night on July 30, 1849 in the Gyárfás Mansion before going to the battle of Segesvár. We can thus find in the city the pear tree under which he wrote his last poem. Nowadays, there is a commemorative plaque in his honor, inaugurated in 1929, and a "legendary tomb" erected in the graveyard.
Here is one of his poems, the "Dal Nemzeti" ("National Song") that would have inspired the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.
Magyar = hungarian
Hungarian patriotic song written in 1848 which was one of the detonators of the Hungarian revolution of 1848 against the absolute power of the Hapsburgs over Hungary.
On March 15, 1848 at a rally, Sándor Petöfi chant this poem aloud on the Vörösmarty square in Budapest and at the end, the crowd chanted the chorus while marching in the city to declare the end of the Austrian domination
His death
In 1849, at the age of 26, Petőfi join the Hungarian revolutionary army and fight under the command of Polish general Józef Bem in the Transylvanian army. The army is crushed by the troops of Vienna and those of Tsar Nicholas I.
Sándor Petőfi was last seen alive during the battle of Segesvár (now in Romania), one of the last battles of the 1848 revolution. His body was never found, so several rumors about his survival exist. In the late 1980s, Soviet investigators discovered records revealing that after the battle about 1,800 Hungarian prisoners of war had been brought to Siberia. Alternative theories suggest he was one of them and died of tuberculosis in 1856.
In Hungary, according to him there is a proverb: "Eltűnt, mint Petőfi a ködben" (Disappeared, as Petőfi in the fog). This proverb is used when somebody or something disappeared without leaving any clue/sign behind them.
Localisation : Cristuru Secuiesc/Székelykeresztúr
If this story sparked your interest towards finding out more about Rural Transylvania and possible ways to experience it, you are welcome to contact us.
· Youth Association from Transylvania at office.ata@gmail.com
· Farmers Association from the Cristuru Secuiesc Area at office.aacs@gmail.com
