Magyar Posta is commemorating the centenary of the birth of the Hungarian writer, songwriter, dramaturge, playwright, EMeRTon Prize-winner and Artist of Merit Iván Szenes by issuing a special stamp. Forty thousand copies of the stamp designed by the graphic artist Barnabás Baticz were produced by ANY Security Printing Company.
Iván Szenes (1924-2010) was a Hungarian writer, songwriter, dramaturge, playwright, EMeRTon Prize-winner and Artist of Merit. Over 2,000 hits, 200 plays, dozens of films and numerous successful television programmes are attributed to him. He wrote the lyrics of the first Hungarian gold disc. His album Mindenkinek van egy álma (Everybody has a dream) sold over a million copies. Szenes won the most first prizes at the light music song contest Táncdalfesztivál, was nominated the best lyricist and won the public’s choice award. He alsowon international festivals. His oeuvre is exceptionally varied, setting out as a serious poet, but going on to write more libretti for Hungarian musicals than anyone else. He achieved success as a theatre dramaturge, composer and songwriter. The number of his premières registered in the national Theatre Database is 491.
His father, Andor Szenes (1899-1935), was a writer, dramatist and hit songwriter, and his mother was Piroska Kelemen (1903-1999). Szenes was a civil servant between 1945 and 1948, worked for the newspaper Világosság from 1948 to 1949, and was the dramaturge first at the Budapest Institute of Popular Entertainment from 1949 to 1950 and then at the Vidám Színpad theatre between 1951 and 1956. From 1956 to 1961, he was the artistic director of the variety department and open-air stages of the National Circus Company. Between 1961 and 1979 he was the dramaturge at the Kisfaludy Theatre in Győr and the Attila József Theatre in Budapest. From 1979 onwards, he was the dramaturge, editor and manager of the Vidám Színpad cabarets. In 2003, the viewership for his series Nemcsak a húszéveseké a világ (The world doesn’t only belong to 20 year olds), broadcast in prime time on MTV, the public service television station, beat the commercial television channels. Two months before his death, MTV broadcast the programme Szenes Színház (Szenes Theatre) in two parts. The artist also engaged with the internet, writing a 21st century hit Klikkelj rám (Click on me). His song Úgy szeretném meghálálni (I would like to thank you) won the award Biggest Hit of the Century in 2023.
