Object of the month – Commemorative medal of the Eötvös József Collegium
The Eötvös József Collegium was founded in 1895 in order to improve teacher training in Hungary. We chose a commemorative medal made in 1945, for the 50th anniversary of its existence, as the object of the month.
The image of the obverse shows a female figure flying a bird and Dezső Keresztury's motto: "THE SPIRIT IS FREE TO SERVE" On the left side of the image is the maker's mark. Pált Pátzay. On the reverse is the inscription in Latin: "IN MEMORIAM SOLLEMNIUM SEMISAECULARIUM COLLEGII A JOSEPHO EÖTVÖS NOMINATI MDCCCXCV MDCCCCXLV "
In an interview, Dezső Keresztury, director of the Collegium (1945–1948), said the following about the history of the motto on the medal:
"We were preparing for the collegium's 50th anniversary, I led it - I could do it then, I had so much influence - I minted a commemorative medal. And this commemorative medal was made by Pál Pátzay: a female figure standing in a strong, almost stormy wind, sending a dove or a bird into the wings. And for this there was also a need for some kind of caption, and then I put it this way: "the spirit serves freely". Of course, at that time quite a lot of people took this from me in a bad name, because the public perception of this issue was different... The sound of the words was different."
Source:
- „Szabadon szolgál a szellem” Keresztúry Dezsővel beszélget Tóbiás Áron. Honismeret, 22. évf. 1994. 6. sz. 44–46.
- A Báró Eötvös József Collegium hivatástörténete 1895-1950. Vezető és forrásgyűjtemány az állandó kiállításhoz. Szerk. Horváth László. Budapest, 2017. 199.
- Prohászka László: Az Eötvös József Collegium Pátzay Pál készítette jubileumi emlékérme. Az Érem, 73. évf. 2017. 1. sz. 28-31.
Compiled by: Attila Boda, Georgina Schlay
