Imre Madach: Hungarian Dramatist (1829-1864)

Imre Madach is best known for his dramatic epic, The Tragedy of Man, which relates the history of mankind in somber, philosophical terms (The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001).

Madach was born January 21, 1823 in Alsosztregova, Hungary.  He spent the Great Revolution of 1848-49 as a prisoner, after which he returned to his small estate in Nflgrd to find his family life ruined by the war.  “This only increased his natural tendency to melancholy, and he withdrew from public life until 1861” (1911 Encyclopedia ).

Madach is considered to be Hungary’s greatest philosophical poet.  In addition to his talents as a poet he was a successful lawyer, a public servant, and a member of the Hungarian parliament.  Imre Madach died on October 5, 1864 of heart disease (1911 Encyclopedia ).

On July 23, 1950, at the conclusion of the annual One World Day celebration, marking the 25^th anniversary of the founding of the Cultural Gardens, a bronze statue of Imre Madach, philosophical dramatist and author of "The Tragedy of Man" was dedicated in the Hungarian Garden. Dr. Joseph Remenyi delivered the principal address on the works of Madach. The bust was the work of Sculptor Alexander Finta.  The Hungarian Cultural Garden Association and the United Hungarian Societies of Cleveland jointly sponsored the dedication of the Hungarian Garden (Lederer, Clara. Their Paths are Peace.  p. 63).   

Photographs:

Madach statue in the Hungarian Cultural Garden  

Photographs of the Garden

Further Reading:

Further information on Madach’s sculpture in the Hungarian Garden

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

Cleveland State University Library, Special Collections.

1911 Encyclopedia

Britannica Encyclopedia

Published Sources: 

Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 16, 1950.  Culture Gardens to Hold Civic Fete: Events Opening Wednesday Will Mark 25 Year.