Sándor Petőfi
*b. 1823 d. 1849

Hungary's Great Revolutionary Poet Laureate, Thespian, Soldier and National Hero.

Till this day researchers still wonder what realy happened to Petôfi after the battle Segesvár. Was the yeang heroic poet soldier of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 really killed while fighting in civilian clothe, or was he captured and sent off to Siberia by the Tsarist military? And what about those strong reports of people throughout Hungary who claimed to have been seen Petôfi alive and well? One thing is for sure, hiss passing, though it created a legend out of a once real live hero, robbed the Hungarian people of a bright young man.

Petôfi Sándor born in Kiskôrös, his early formative years in Kiskunfélegyháza, developed strong dislike for authoritarianism during the schoolage years, never quite being to stay put at any given school for any longer period of time. He was by no means uninterested in learning, but was against the method applied. In fact he was always busy reading all manner of books. However, Petôfi, whose father was a well-to-do land-owner and Barkeeper, failed to find interest in the private college his father sent him to at age fifteen (1838), and after having fallen in love with wat he saw about life as a Playhouse actor he ascaped from the college and became a wandering thespian. His father, who had in the meantime gone broke, disinherited his son. A year later the young man was enlisted as a soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Army. However, barely two years later, he was deemed unfit to serve by a compassinate physician who noticed the psychological strain the young man was going through. After beeing dismissed he made another effort at

getting an education, and then once more tried another go at acting. In 1842 his first published poem, The Wine Cellar, appeared. During this time he travelled around the country. He spent the Winter of 1843�44 in Debrecen, nearly dying in powerty. Thus, as soon as early Spring neared and the weather made possible he walked all the way to Pest-Buda, where he was able to get the kind of support he needed. Vörösmarty Mihály, the great revolutionery writer, helped get Petôfi's poetry collections published, and another gentelman gave him a position as associate editor at his style magazine. All this inspired Petôfi to produce greater and greater masterpieces of poetry and prose with his volume bringing him great fame. His works were so exciting and well witten that even commoners, people who had hardly ever read anything of any import, wanted to become highly literate overlight. And most importantly for the revolutionary independence movement, Petôfi became the voice of the reason behind the revolution, for the wrote words that expressed the spirit of Hungarians at the time. Their desire for independence and brotherhood, for nation and democracy, and yet their desire for romantic love and chivarly. Petôfi used his newfound success, his money and time, to study the French Revolution and to write about these. In the fall of 1846 he met Szendrey Júlia daugther of a nobleman's estate manager, whom he would marry one year later in 1847.

Following the birth of the National Theatre, known as the Toldi Theatre, he made a close friendship with Arany János, one of the greatest Hungarian writers. And then he reached his peak as a poet of the people when the first item published by the first free press on the first day of freedom following the Revolution of 1848, in which he had had a leading part, was his National Song, became the official Song of Revolution. Even so, he failed to win the votes needed as an independent candidate for the National Council, and his disappointment was obvious. He joint the national guards, gaining the rank of Captain, and then went on to join the regular militia. On December the 15th his wife Júlia gave birth to a son he named Zoltán. With defeat after defeat, he made an effort to fight with Polish-born revolutionary and military leader holding out in Transylvania. He had trouble with other officers and lost his rand again, leaving for while only to return again and fight in civilian clothing. His body was never recovered. Both Júlia, and his son lived on. Petôfi today is a highly protected name, and he is only Hungarian hero that Hungarians will not tolerate criticism of. The National Museum of Literature is named after him, and it is there where relics of life and love can bee seen. His most famous poem is his romantic story János Vitéz, about a peasant born soldier hero, which all Hungarian children are required to read in school.

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