REMEMBRANCE IN TIME - Index of

THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE
TORNYAI JÁNOS MUSEUM AND
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH
IN HÓDMEZİVÁSÁRHELY DURING THE
COMMUNIST PERIOD (1945-1989)
Viktor CSÁNYI 1
The first decades of the Hódmezıvásárhely museum
The idea of the necessity of a local museum in Hódmezıvásárhely emerged at the end
of the 19th century for the first time. In 1892, when the reformed church changed the
interior furniture of the Vásárhely reformed old temple, the cassettes, painted by
carpenters from Gyula were removed and given to the Museum of Applied Arts. In the
consequence János Tornyai wrote in the local newspaper, that if the town had had a local
museum, those valuable cassettes could have stayed in Vásárhely (KISS 1958, 7).
The foundation of the Hódmezıvásárhely museum was highly supported by the
industrial and agricultural exhibition organized in 1904. According to suggestion of the
artists of Hódmezıvásárhely – mainly János Tornyai – a relaxing room has been
furnished for the visitors of the exhibition. They put there different ethnographic and
folk-art objects. A part of these objects were lent by János Tornyai, who had got a serous
ethnographic and folk-art collection. After the exhibition had closed, the artists succeeded
to convince the city leaders to base the local museum (NAGY 2001). In 1904 the city
committee accepted the plan of the foundation of the museum, and in 1905 they issued a
decree to establish it (DÖMÖTÖR 2004, 13).
In the beginning it was a constant problem to find the right place for the collection.
Within some years the objects were replaced to different rented rooms. At the same time
Lajos Kiss – who later became an excellent ethnographer – collected the object in a
persistent way. In 1912 Lajos Kiss moved to Nyíregyháza, however, he wrote his works,
inspired by his experience, and collections: “The life of a poor man” (1939); “Famous
markets in Vásárhely” (1956), “Art life in Vásárhely” (1957) and “Weekdays in
Vásárhely” (1958). After Lajos Kiss had left, clerks of the city were appointed to deal
with the management and administration of the museum.
In 1914 the city bought the two-storey house, formerly owned by the eye-specialist
Dr. József Imre, at 16 Szentes Street (Szántó Kovács Str. today) for the purposes of the
museum. The building also gave place to the city library. The firs professional
ethnographic exhibition – open for the public – opened in 1928. It was directed by Károly
Cs. Sebestyén, the vice-director of the museum of Szeged (DÖMÖTÖR 2004, 21-22).
1 Tornyai János Museum, Hódmezıvásárhely, Hungary.