Permanent Exhibition Opens Dedicated to Author Sándor Márai

Szilárd Demeter, Director-General of the Hungarian National Museum, Balázs Hankó, Minister of Culture and Innovation, László Böröcz, Mayor of District I. (L-R)

A permanent exhibition dedicated to Hungarian author Sándor Márai (1900–1989) will open in the 1st district of Budapest, at the Virág Benedek House, as part of the year-long commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the writer’s birth.

The exhibition was created with the support of the cultural government to allow local communities to experience what Sándor Márai’s community, nation, and former home, Krisztinaváros (District of Budapest), meant to him, said Balázs Hankó, Minister of Culture and Innovation, at a press conference introducing the commemoration.

Márai was a guardian of civic values, a witness to history, and a chronicler who lived through and suffered the difficulties of World War II, the horrors of communism, and was forced into exile, but never abandoned his country, language, or culture, the minister stated. He emphasized that Sándor Márai still serves as a guide today, anchoring us to our nation, homeland, language, culture, and civic values.

Márai is the one who elevated Hungarian literature to an international level, as his works have been translated into 35 languages.

The minister also mentioned that the government is relaunching the Márai Program, aimed at preserving national cultural heritage, ensuring that books published by Hungarian publishers both within and outside Hungary reach as many readers as possible through libraries, as well as fostering the development of reading culture, supporting contemporary Hungarian authors, and promoting their work.

Szilárd Demeter, Director-General of the Hungarian National Museum, stated that the permanent exhibition, created in collaboration with the Petőfi Literary Museum and the Newspaper Museum, will showcase rare documents as well as furniture from Márai’s family legacy, illustrating the writer’s career. He highlighted that

the Petőfi Literary Museum has the most complete Márai collection, which will be further expanded with the writer’s correspondence and the legacies of Márai Gábor and his wife, with the help of literary historian and Márai expert Tibor Mészáros.

László Böröcz, Mayor of the 1st district, emphasized that the permanent exhibition, opening in November at the Virág Benedek House, will be a key event in the Márai commemoration, which starts on April 11 and runs until the same day in 2026.

The exhibition, consisting of six rooms, will focus on four themes:

Márai’s years in Košice (Kassa, Slovakia)
His subsequent travels
His years in Budapest
Key moments of his emigration

Balázs Hankó, Minister of Culture and Innovation (R), László Böröcz, Mayor of District I., (R2), Szilárd Demeter, Director-General of the Hungarian National Museum (R3); Photo: MTI/Hegedüs Róbert

The exhibition will also feature a two-room café setting, evoking the atmosphere of early 20th-century cafés, which will also function as a museum café. The mayor also mentioned that in addition to the exhibition opening, the commemoration year will include programs designed to strengthen local and national identity, as well as the Krisztinaváros community.

In line with this, literary evenings, special literature classes, discussion series, theater performances, guided walks, and film screenings will offer opportunities to explore Márai’s life and works.

In the fall, a theater festival and a 24-hour reading marathon will also await visitors. Furthermore, the Márai evenings will be relaunched. Poetry competitions and digital contests will be organized for the district’s schools, and there will also be visual arts competitions for local artists. Local restaurants will be encouraged by the municipality to offer special products related to the commemoration year, such as Márai’s favorite dish or a period-appropriate dessert, as well as desserts that feature the commemoration year’s logo.

László Böröcz, the district’s Fidesz mayor, emphasized that the commemoration year will involve various programs aimed at strengthening both the district’s and the nation’s identity and community, in addition to the exhibition opening.