Bust of Jókai on Erzsébet Island in Komárom

A joyful event took place on the morning of November 28, 2020 on the Erzsébet Island in Komárom. The city government, together with representatives of the Jókai Public Education and Museum Association, which is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its re-establishment, unveiled the bust of the city's distinguished native in the former Beöthy Garden, in the former favorite place of Mór Jókai's residence. ; During his summary of local history at the Jókai philagory, which was erected in 1913 in honor of the writer prince, Mayor Béla Keszegh recalled the noble deed of Zsolt Beöthy, a literary historian, aesthete, university professor, and former president of the Kisfaludy Society from Budapest: on his own 65th birthday, he had a philagory erected - modeled on Naples - in the garden of their villa in Komárom (on the former plot of land of the Jókai family), where he very much enjoyed spending time, and he always celebrated his birthday there. ; The keystone of this was the copy of the plaster statue of Jókai by sculptor György Zala, and this became the first Jókai memorial in Komárom. The distinguished guests brought soil from Jókai's villa in Svábhegy and petals from the rose garden of the Jókai villa in Balatonfüred to the city on the Danube, and they sprinkled them on the pedestal of the statue at the inauguration. ; Restorer András Csütörtöki undertook the casting of the copy of the bust of Mór Jókai on the first floor of the Danube Riverside Museum, which replaced the plaster statue made by sculptor György Zala. He previously said: “The work of sculptor György Zala could only have been recast in Hungary, which was prevented by the current pandemic. That is why I came up with the idea of having a copy of the work by Gyula Berecz, which is owned by the Danube River Museum, made in the Uplands. I also have a contemporary portrait of him. Since the latter artist was even more closely connected to Komárom than György Zala, and he also made the bronze statue of Jókai unveiled in front of the Palace of Culture in 1937, the mayor supported my idea.” ; The bust copy was cast by Zsolt Bartusz, a master from Kéménd. The approximately 1.10-meter-high pedestal of the statue was made of marble from Süttő by Boldizsár Ryšavý. ; Association president Margit Keszegh highlighted that the full-length Jókai statue in the city center was also unveiled on November 28, 1937, and the next day the grand opening ceremony of the Palace of Culture took place. Nine years ago, on the same day, the perpetual honorary president of their association, high school teacher and local historian Zoltán Szénássy, passed away, and upon their recommendation he was posthumously awarded the Hungarians Abroad Award in 2012. Twenty years ago, the oldest Hungarian cultural forum in the Uplands was re-established on his initiative, which – with a forced interruption – has been active for the flourishing of Hungarian culture for more than a century. ; In 1913, he had the Palace of Culture (the building of today's Danube Riverside Museum) built at his own expense, in the garden of which he had the Jókai statue erected. ; The President thanked the city administration for the restoration of the area around the filagory and the installation of the statue, which is a new stage in the work process aimed at renovating the Jókai memorial sites in Komárom. ; The city of Komárom spent approximately 5 thousand euros on the restoration of the filagory and its surroundings, which had previously been partially beautified by the Civic Association for a Better Komárom, including replacing the missing elements of the paving stones, placing new benches and making the green belt more attractive, and, quoting its original form, placing the bust of Mór Jókai.