Magyar Posta is releasing a new issue to commemorate the 220th anniversary of the birth of Ferenc Deák. The black-numbered perforated edition and the red-numbered imperforated edition of the souvenir sheet designed by the graphic artist Attila André Elekes were produced by Pénzjegynyomda Zrt., and will be available for sale at first day post offices and Filaposta in Hungary from 17 October 2023 but may also be ordered from Magyar Posta’s online store.
To mark the 220th anniversary of the birth of Ferenc Deák (1803-1876), lawyer, Member of Parliament and Justice Minister in the Batthyány government, the Ministry of Justice is organising a series of celebrations. The anniversary is an opportunity to commemorate the jurist who in 1848 created and laid the basis of the legal framework for the development of the middle class in Hungary. As one of the most able Hungarian politicians of the 19th century, he played a decisive role in the establishment of the rule of law, both in the Reform Era and in the period following the weakening of neo-absolutism. Deák was Hungary’s first Minister of Justice and a leading figure in the passive resistance after the defeat of the War of Independence. His contribution to bringing about the 1867 Compromise between the Habsburgs and the Hungarians was invaluable.
Besides politics, he was well-versed in law and is considered one of the greatest statesmen in our history. The first independent, responsible Hungarian government was established by Act III of 1848, in which the basic provisions on the structure of the ministries and the functioning of the government were devised under the guidance of Ferenc Deák.
The central feature of the souvenir sheet is a detail of an oil painting of Ferenc Deák by Franz Eybl, while the frame design is decorated with the image elements of the commemorative year. The graphics of the commemorative first day cover also employ the image elements of the commemorative year, complemented by the saying of Ferenc Deák, which has since become a common maxim: “We may risk everything for the Motherland, but we must not risk the Motherland for anything.” The imprint of the postmark on the first day cover features the logo of the commemorative year.
