Széchenyi Academy of Letters and Arts
Mission Statement
The Széchenyi Academy of Letters and Arts embodies the idea that the intellectual independence of the artist and the freedom of creative imagination are intrinsic values. It is the main responsibility of the Academy to represent and to promote the versatility of Hungarian literature and arts which is the safeguard of their richness and high potentials. The Academy seeks to promote a wider appreciation of high quality in art and encourages achievements of the highest possible standards. It aims to expand international relationships with fellow academies and also among individual members. The Academy endeavours to promote a better understanding of the diversity of arts while defies all forms of insularity and exclusion. It also aims at promoting co-operation between science, literature and arts. The variety of activities to achieve these aims includes inaugural and public lectures, readings, recitals, and exhibitions, conferences, and also book-publishing. The Széchenyi Academy annually advertises over twenty programmes with free public access.
Brief History and Structure (detailed History)
The Széchenyi Academy of Letters and Arts was established in 1992 by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS), as an associated but autonomous body with statutes of its own, to include the eminent representatives of literature and arts. The members and the activity of the associated Széchenyi Academy are independent from the organisation of HAS. At the same time, financially it is dependent upon the budget of HAS. The members of the Széchenyi Academy pay no membership fee and receive no revenue.
The foundation of the Széchenyi Academy was part of a rehabilitation process which was initiated by Domokos Kosáry, then President of HAS. It aimed at the inclusion of eminent representatives of literary and artistic life as these fields had been excluded from HAS in 1949.
The members of the Széchenyi Academy are professionals who have excelled at creative arts and literature. Membership is by invitation after peer group nomination and confirmation as to the eminence of the individual nominees in their chosen field of art. There are two types of membership, full and honorary. Only citizens of the Hungarian Republic can be elected full members, while non-citizens can become honorary members. At any one time, the number of full members under the age of 70 must not exceed 60.
The Széchenyi Academy has five departments: (1) Literature, (2) Fine Arts, (3) Musical Arts, (4) Cinematic and Theatre Arts, and (5) Architecture. Each department has an elected head.
The General Assembly is the supreme body of the Széchenyi Academy. It is constituted by all the full and honorary members. The General Assembly elects the leading officials such as the president, the executive president, and the heads of the departments, for a three-year term.
The two Academies keep up contact with each other through delegations, counting two members from each side.
Board Members
Domokos KOSÁRY, member of the HAS, honorary president (deceased, 2007)
Dóra MAURER president
Győző FERENCZ executive president
Károly KLIMÓ member of the presidium
Csaba MENGYÁN head of the secretariat
Founding Members
László BARTHA painter (deceased, 1998)
Tibor CSERES writer (deceased, 1993)
Mátyás DOMOKOS writer (deceased, 2006)
András FODOR writer (deceased, 1997)
Gábor GÖRGEY writer(deceased, 2022)
György HAIMAN typographer (deceased, 1996)
Miklós HUBAY writer (deceased, 2011)
György JOVÁNOVICS sculptor
Anna JÓKAI writer (deceased, 2017)
Ferenc JUHÁSZ poet (deceased, 2015)
György KONRÁD writer (deceased, 2019)
István LAKATOS writer (deceased, 2002)
László LATOR writer
Balázs LENGYEL writer (deceased, 2007)
Tamás LOSSONCZY painter (deceased, 2009)
Iván MÁNDY writer (deceased, 1995)
Miklós MÉSZÖLY writer (deceased, 2001)
Ágnes NEMES NAGY poet (deceased, 1991)
Rózsa POLGÁR textile artist (deceased, 2014)
György SOMLYÓ poet (deceased, 2006)
József SOPRONI composer (deceased, 2021)
István SZABÓ film director
Magda SZABÓ writer (deceased, 2007)
Gyula TAKÁTS writer (deceased, 2008)
István VAS writer (deceased, 1991)
Ordinary Members
Architecture Department
Zsófia CSOMAY architect, interior decorator
Nóra DEMETER architect
Tamás DÉVÉNYI architect
János DOBAI architect
Tamás GETTO architect
Péter JANESCH architect
Tamás KARÁCSONY architect
Lajos KOSZORÚ architect
Antal LÁZÁR arcitetect
Péter MAGYAR architect
Éva MAGYARI architect
Péter MÁTRAI architect
Tamás MEGGYESI architect
Bálint NAGY architect (deceased, 2022)
Iván NAGY architect
Béla PAZÁR architect
Margit PELÉNYI architect
Tamás PERÉNYI architect
Antal PUHL architect
János ROTH architect
György SKARDELLI architect
Péter SUGÁR architect
Ádám SYLVESTER architect
Levente SZABÓ architect
Tamás TOMAY architect (deceased, 2021)
Gábor TURÁNYI architect (deceased, 2020)
Gábor U. NAGY architetct
László VINCZE architect
Csaba VIRÁG architect (deceased, 2015)
Barnabás WINKLER architect
Elemér ZALOTAY architect (deceased, 2021)
László ZSIGMOND architect
Fine Arts Department
Tamás ASSZONYI sculptor
Imre BAK painter
István BALOGH graphic artist (deceased, 2016)
András BARANYAY graphic artist (deceased, 2016)
Ágnes BARTHA enamels artist
László BARTHA painter (deceased, 1998)
Júlia BÁTHORY glass artist (deceased, 2000)
Daniela BIKÁCSI painter
Ákos BIRKÁS painter (deceased, 2018)
Irén BÓDY textile artist (deceased, 2011)
Alpár BUJDOSÓ intermedia artist (deceased, 2021)
Judit CSANÁDI scenic designer
Orsolya DROZDIK intermedia artist
Dániel ERDÉLY designer artist
János FAJÓ painter (deceased, 2018)
László FELUGOSSY painter, performer
Péter FORGÁCH media artist
Tibor GÁYOR painter
Gábor GERHES graphic artist
Arnold GROSS graphic artist (deceased, 2015)
Tihamér GYARMATHY painter (deceased, 2005)
István HAÁSZ sculptor
Gabriella HAJNAL painter and tapestry artist
Ritta HAGER textile artist
György HAIMAN typographer (deceased, 1996)
István HARASZTΫ sculptor (deceased, 2022)
Tamás HENCZE painter (deceased, 2018)
Károly HOPP-HALÁSZ painter (deceased, 2016)
Márton HORVÁTH glass artist (deceased, 2013)
Ilona KESERÜ ILONA painter
József JAKOVITS sculptor (deceased, 1994)
György JOVÁNOVICS sculptor
János KASS graphic artist (deceased, 2010)
Ágnes KECSKÉS tapestry artist
Antal KELLE artformer
György KEMÉNY graphic artist
Balázs KICSINY sculptor, painter
Károly KLIMÓ painter
Tamás KONOK painter (deceased, 2020)
László KONTRASZTY painter (deceased,1994)
Tamás KOVÁCS graphic artist (deceased, 1999)
Tamás KÖRÖSÉNYI sculptor (deceased, 2010)
Erika LIGETI sculptor (deceased, 2004)
Tamás LOSSONCZY painter (deceased, 2009)
Ilona LOVAS, video and installation artist (deceased, 2021)
Mária LUGOSSY sculptor (deceased, 2012.)
Dóra MAURER painter
János MEGYIK sculptor
András MENGYÁN fine artist and designer
Sándor MOLNÁR painter (deceased, 2022)
István NÁDLER painter
Judit NEMES painter, graphic artist
István OROSZ graphic artist
Gyula PAUER sculptor (deceased, 2012)
Gábor PÁSZTOR painter (deceased, 2012)
Zsuzsa PÉRELI tapestry artist
Vladimir PÉTER metalsmith designer
Sándor PINCEHELYI painter, graphic artist
Péter PÓCS graphic designer
Rózsa POLGÁR textile artist (deceased, 2014)
Katalin SÁRVÁRY textile artist
János SAXON SZÁSZ painter
Mihály SCHÉNER painter (deceased, 2009)
Károly SCHMALL painter, graphic artist
Gizella SOLTI tapestry artist (deceased, 2015)
Zoltán SZEGEDY-MASZÁK graphic artist
Károly SZELÉNYI photogapher
Imre SZEMETHY graphic artist
Zsuzsa SZENES textile artist (deceased, 2001)
Miklós SZÜTS painter
Pál VERESS painter (deceased, 1999)
Tamás VIGH sculptor (deceased, 2010)
Erzsébet VOJNICH paniter
Gábor ZÁBORSZKY painter
József ZALAVÁRI sculptor, designer
Mária Flóra ZOLTÁN painter
Literature Department
Géza ACZÉL writer
Zsófia BALLA poet
Attila BARTIS writer
Károly BARI poet
László BERTÓK writer (deceased, 2020)
Ádám BODOR writer
Tibor CSERES writer (deceased, 1993)
Győző CSORBA writer (deceased, 1995)
István CSUKÁS poet , writer(deceased, 2020)
László DARVASI writer
György DRAGOMÁN writer
Mátyás DOMOKOS writer (deceased, 2006)
Péter ESTERHÁZY writer (deceased, 2016)
Győző FERENCZ writer
András FODOR writer (deceased, 1997)
László GARACZI writer
Ágnes GERGELY writer
Gábor GÖRGEY writer (deceased, 2022)
Zoltán HALASI writer
Miklós HUBAY writer (deceased, 2011)
Flóra IMRE poet
Anna JÓKAI writer (deceased, 2017)
Ferenc JUHÁSZ poet (deceased, 2015
Péter KÁNTOR poet (deceased, 2021)
Endre KARÁTSON writer
Imre KERTÉSZ writer (Nobel price of literature 2002, deceased, 2016)
György KONRÁD writer (deceased, 2019)
Mihály KORNIS writer
László KRASZNAHORKAI writer
István LAKATOS writer (deceased, 2002)
László LATOR writer
Péter LENGYEL writer
Balázs LENGYEL writer (deceased, 2007)
Iván MÁNDY writer (deceased, 1995)
László MÁRTON writer, translator
Mónika MESTERHÁZI poet, translator
Miklós MÉSZÖLY writer (deceased, 2001)
Péter NÁDAS writer
Ádám NÁDASDY poet, linguist, translator
Ágnes NEMES NAGY poet (deceased, 1991)
Ottó ORBÁN poet (deceased, 2002)
Lajos PARTI NAGY writer
Gergely PÉTERFY writer
Zsuzsa RAKOVSZKY writer
Iván SÁNDOR writer
György SOMLYÓ poet (deceased, 2006)
György SPIRÓ writer
Anna SZABÓ T. writer, poet
Magda SZABÓ writer (deceased, 2007)
Károly SZAKONYI writer
Magda SZÉKELY poet (deceased, 2007)
Zsuzsa TAKÁCS poet
Gyula TAKÁTS writer (deceased, 2008)
Dezső TANDORI writer (deceased, 2019)
Andrea TOMPA writer
Krisztina TÓTH poet
Rudolf UNGVÁRY writer
Szabolcs VÁRADY writer
István VAS writer (deceased, 1991)
László VILLÁNYI writer
László VÉGEL writer
Pál ZÁVADA writer
Musical Arts Department
Gábor CSALOG composer
Gyula CSAPÓ composer
László DOBSZAY musicologist (deceased, 2011)
Barnabás DUKAY composer
Zsolt DURKÓ composer (deceased, 1997)
Iván ERŐD composer (deceased, 2019)
Ferenc FARKAS composer (deceased, 2000)
Zoltán JENEY composer (deceased, 2019)
Zoltán KOCSIS composer, pianist (deceased, 2016)
Ádám KONDOR composer
György KURTÁG composer
Miklós LUKÁCS cimbalom player
István MATUZ flutist
Zoltán PESKÓ composer (deceased, 2020)
Emil PETROVICS composer (deceased, 2011)
József SÁRI composer
Bálint SÁROSI folk musicologist (deceased, 2021)
László SÁRY composer
Zsolt SEREI composer
József SOPRONI composer (deceased, 2021)
Andrea SZIGETVÁRI composer
András SZÖLLŐSY composer (deceased, 2007)
László TIHANYI composer
Gergely VAJDA composer
László VIDOVSZKY composer
Motion Picture and Theatre Department
Róbert ALFÖLDI theatre director
László BABARCZY theatre director (deceased, 2022)
Tamás ASCHER theatre director
András BÁLINT theatre director
Ildikó ENYEDI film director
Zoltán FÁBRI film director (deceased, 2000)
Tamás FODOR theatre director
Andrea FULLAJTÁR actress
Miklós GÁBOR actor, theatre director (deceased, 1998)
László Gálffy actor
Ferenc GRUNWALSKY film director
Géza HEGEDŰS D. theatre director
Péter HUSZTI theatre director
Miklós JANCSÓ film director (deceased, 2014)
Attila JANISCH film director
Tamás JORDÁN theatre director
Tamás KOLTAI theatre director (deceased, 2015)
Balázs KOVALIK theatre director
György LENGYEL theatre director
Pál MÁCSAI theatre director
Károly MAKK film director (deceased, 2017)
Gábor MÁTÉ theatre director
Márta MÉSZÁROS film director
Béla PINTÉR theatre director
László SEREGI choreographer (deceased, 2012)
Zsuzsa RADNÓTI dramaturg
István SZABÓ film director
János SZÁSZ theatre director, film director
Gábor SZÉKELY theatre director
András SZEREDÁS dramaturg
Miklós SZINETÁR director
István SZŐTS, film director (deceased, 1998)
Béla TARR film director
Péter VALLÓ theatre director
András VISKY theatre director
Gábor ZSÁMBÉKI theatre director
Honorary Members
Thomas ADÈS composer, England
Umberto ALBINI translator, Italy (deceased, 2011)
János BÁNYAI writer, Serbia (deceased, 2016)
Clarence BARLOW composer, Germany
Attila BATÁR architect, France (deceased, 2022)
László BOCSÁRDI director, Romania
Krstić BOŚKO writer, Serbia
Edith BRUCH poet, Italy
Zoltán CSEHY poet, Slovakia
Tibor CSERNUS painter, France (deceased, 2007)
Péter EÖTVÖS composer, Germany/Hungary
István DOMONKOS poet, Sweden
László DÚS visual artist, United States of America
Gabriel FITZMAURICE poet, Ireland
Yona FRIEDMAN, architect, France (deceased, 2022)
Hans Jörg GLATTFELDER visual artist, Switzerland
Pascal GILEVSKI poet, Macedonia
Eugène GUILLEVIC poet, France (deceased, 1997)
Lajos GRENDEL writer, Slovakia (deceased, 2018)
Éva HALDIMANN, critic, Switzerland (deceased, 2019)
Győző HATÁR, writer, England (deceased, 2006)
Lucien HERVÉ (László ELKÁN), photographer, France (deceased, 2007)
Heinz HOLLIGER composer, Switzerland
Jože HRADIL, translator, Slovenia (deceased, 2015)
Tom HUBBARD poet, Scotland
Ted HUGHES, poet, England (deceased, 1998)
Viktor Hulík painter, Slovakia
Ferenc András KOVÁCS poet, Romania
László LAKNER, painter, Germany
Zsolt LÁNG writer, Romania
György LIGETI, composer, Austria (deceased, 2006)
Arnold MACALIK architect, Romania
Béla MARKÓ poet, writer, Romania
William J. McCORMACK poet, Ireland
Jiří MENCEL film director, Czech Republic (deceased, 2020)
Manfred MOHR, digital artist, Germany
Vera MOLNÁR, painter, France
Ákos MORAVÁNSZKY architect, Switzerland
Fabio NIEDER composer Germany/Italy
Thomas PYNCHON writer Unites States of America
Ilma RAKUSA writer Switzerland
Ján STEMPEL architect, Czech Republic
Esther STOCKER visual artist, Germany
János SZABÓ architect, Canada
Zsigmond SZATHMÁRY, composer, organist, Germany
Júlia SZILÁGYI writer, Romania
George SZIRTES poet, England
Günther UECKER fine artist, Germany
Yūji TAKAHASHI composer Japan
Ottó TOLNAI, writer, Serbia
Gábor TOMPA theatre director, Romania
Wolfgang WAGNER, director, Germany (deceased, 2010)
Dragan VELIKIĆ writer, Serbia
Christian WOLFF composer, Unites States of America
Titulary Members
János BALI conductor
Yvette BÍRÓ film aesthete
Zsuzsa FERGE sociologist
László F. FÖLDÉNYI aesthete
Judit GESKÓ art historian
György KARSAI classical philologist
János KENEDI writer
János KORNAI economist (deceased, 2021)
Péter KOVÁCS art historian
Márta KOVALOVSZKY art historian
Edgar MORIN philosopher
Géza PERNECZKY art historian
Judit RAJK singer
Iván SZELÉNYI sociologist
Ferenc TAKÁCS literary historian
Tamás VEKERDY psychologist (deceased, 2019)