COURAGE

povezivanje zbirki

The Hungarian Democratic Forum was the first legal opposition movement in socialist Hungary. It was founded on 27 September 1987 in Sándor Lezsák’s garden in Lakitelek by members of the populist-nationalist (or national democratic) opposition. The Forum focused on Hungarian national and cultural traditions, and it aimed to find a “third way” between capitalism and communism. One of the main problems for the founders was the worrisome situation of Hungarian minorities in the neighboring socialist countries. The Hungarian Democratic Forum announced its foundation in Lakitelek in September 1988. The first issue of the Forum’s non-official periodical Hitel (Credit) was published in November 1988. By the end of the year, the membership of the Forum had reached 10,000. The first national assembly of the Forum was held on 11–12 March 1989, where the official basic statutes and first program were accepted. The Forum took part in the Opposition Roundtable talks and in the meetings of the National Roundtable. The Hungarian Democratic Forum became a political party on 24 June 1989, and the Capital Court officially registered it in December 1989. On 20–22 October 1989, in the second national assembly of the Forum, the party elected József Antall to serve as president. When Antall took over control of the party from founding president Zoltán Bíró, the MDF shifted away from populist-national principles towards a national-conservative and Christian democratic ideology.

The Hungarian Heritage House (HHH) was founded as a national institution in 2001 by the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. Its main aim is the preservation and promotion of Hungarian folk traditions. The HHH consists of three branches: the Folklore Documentation Centre, which contains the Hungarian folk culture collection; the Library and Archives, which contain folk music and folk dance collections; and the Folk Arts Department, which organizes courses, conferences, play-houses etc. and cooperates with other cultural institutions. The HHH supports the work of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble (founded in 1951).

The Hungarian Historical Film Foundation, and its successor, the Hungarian Historical Film Public Foundation, operated for seventeen years. At the beginning, the board of trustees prioritized applications dealing with the history of the 1956 revolution and the decisive issues concerning Hungarian nationalities. Later, this thematic limitation was dropped and its main goal became fostering portrayal, adaptation and preservation of 20^th-century historical processes leading to the present.

Members of the board: 1993–1998
Chair: Géza Perjés, military historian
Secretary: Dr. Sándor Szakály, historian
Members: Géza Böszörményi, film director (resigned in 1997); Dr. Csaba Csorba, historian; János Erdélyi, film director; Dr. Gyula Erdmann, historian; Zoltán Fábri, film director (resigned in 1993); István Gaál, film director (resigned September 1994); Gyula Gulyás, film director; István Kardos, screen writer (elected in 1994); Gábor Hanák, historian; Dr. László Katus, historian; Ferenc Kósa, film director; Gyula Obersovszky, journalist and poet; Gergely Pongrátz, politician; Pál Rosdy, historian and journalist; Sándor Sára, film director; Pál Schiffer, film director; Dr. János Varga, archivist (resigned in 1996); Dr. Károly Vígh, historian and journalist.