Magyar Posta is issuing a commemorative stamp to honour the 250th anniversary of the birth of the poet Mihály Csokonai Vitéz. Forty thousand copies of the new issue designed by the graphic artist Katalin Bódi were produced by ANY Security Printing Company. The new issue will be available at first day post offices and Filaposta in Hungary from 9 May 2023, but may also be ordered from Magyar Posta’s online store.
Mihály Csokonai Vitéz (1773–1805) was one of the most prominent poets of Hungarian literature in the Age of Enlightenment. He gained a broad education as a student at the Reformed College in Debrecen, and was already considered a poet whilst still a teenager. Later he became a teacher at the College, where, although he was liked by his students, his progressive teaching methods met with disapproval, which led to his dismissal. He read law at Sárospatak for a brief period of time but never graduated. In the autumn of 1796, he went to Pozsony (today Bratislava, Slovakia), where he launched a poetry journal, Diétai Magyar
Múzsa, and then, for want of financial support, travelled to Komárom in 1797 with the intention of publishing a periodical called Nyájas Múzsa. However, he did not find any backers there either. For a short while he held a post as a stand-in teacher in Csurgó, where his more settled circumstances fostered a productive creative period. In 1800 he set off on foot for his home town, Debrecen. The deprived, deeply impoverished poet applied for many civilian jobs but was unable to realise his plans. The family house was destroyed in the 1802 Great Fire of Debrecen, making him in effect homeless. In 1805 he travelled to Nagyvárad (today Oradea, Romania) to attend the funeral of Count Lajos Rhédey’s wife and to recite his poem Halotti versek (Funeral poems) in person. Presumably, it was then that he caught a cold, which turned into pneumonia, causing his death.
The synthesis of styles which Csokonai’s poetry represents was unique in his age. His work is characterised by a wide range of tools of diverse stylistic movements and a variety of lyrical genres. He was associated with almost all the movements and genres of his time. His classical conceptual odes are just as enduring as his sentimentalist elegies, while his immense talent is attested by his folk-style lays and rococo love songs. Apart from his lyrical poetry, his mock heroic poems and dramas are worthy of mention. (Source: nkp.hu)
The composition shown in the stamp design uses the portrait of Mihály Csokonai Vitéz. The main motif of the first day cover is a lyre, which reappears in the stamp design. The main element in the imprint of the special postmark on the first day cover is the poet’s signature.
