The Dante Alighieri Society was founded in Rome in 1889. At present, it is a global organization, operating in approximately 70 countries, including Hungary, with more than 450 member organizations. Its mission is to promote the dissemination of Italian culture and language through the means of art, music and culture.
To support the Hungarian events of the third Dante Festival between October 7 and 12, four Hungarian cities joined their efforts, including Budapest, Esztergom, Mosonmagyaróvár and Debrecen.
The program series in Debrecen was started with an exhibition on the third-floor of the Main Building of the University of Debrecen, showcasing the life story of Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor Edit Bruck, who currently lives in Italy and works as a writer.
- The preservation of Hungarian and European values and traditions has always been one of the top priorities for the University of Debrecen. In keeping with this spirit, we held a wreath-laying ceremony today at the statue of former Minister of Religion and Public Education Kunó Klebelsberg to pay tribute to the work through which he also laid the foundations for the future of higher education in Debrecen. As regards the events of the Dante Festival, we are celebrating Hungarian-Italian friendship on this same day, paying tribute to a relationship that looks back on centuries of shared history between the two nations- said Zoltán Bács, Rector of the University of Debrecen, in his opening address.
This ceremony was also attended by His Excellency Giuseppe Scognamiglio, Italy’s Ambassador to Hungary, whom Zoltán Bács had received prior to the event.
- Edith Bruck has resided in Rome since 1954. It was her choice and decision to write in Italian—a language that, by her own account, provides the necessary distance to articulate the unspeakable. By writing in Italian, she has become one of the most powerful voices in our national literature. By birth, Hungarian but, by choice, Italian: her life serves as a bridge between the two countries- said the ambassador in his speech.
Deputy Mayor of Debrecen for Cultural Affairs István Puskás, when referring to the tragedy that Edith Bruck endured during the Holocaust, stressed that we must never forget past events. We also need to keep those memories alive in order to strengthen friendships between nations even in the 21st century, a goal exemplified by the Dante Festival event series in Debrecen.
The Dante Alighieri Society of Budapest was founded in 2023. Since then, it has organized more than 60 cultural events, including concerts, conferences, book launches, film screenings and festivals, including the current 3rd Dante Festival.
- This exhibition has been lent to the University of Debrecen by the Hungarian Academy in Rome. Edith Bruck is a tireless embodiment of human goodness, and her life and oeuvre remind us all that remembrance is not merely a duty towards the past but also an essential compass for our present- said Edit Császi, President of the Budapest-based society, in her opening remarks.
The festival continued with the presentation of a jointly written volume by Edith Bruck and Andrea Riccardi, the Hungarian translation of which was titled A rosszon túl (Beyond Evil) and is the work of Edit Császi.
The book, the chief message of which is that we must neither resign ourselves to evil, nor become accustomed to it, nor allow it to have the final word, was presented at the book launch by László Pete, Head of the Department of Italian Studies at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Debrecen.
The Department of Italian Studies within the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Debrecen is the centre of Italian studies in Eastern and North-eastern Hungary.
- Our vocation and mission encompasses university-level education and research but, at the same time, we are also committed to promoting the Italian language and culture beyond the university walls in the form of extramural events. These events are open to secondary-school students studying Italian as well as to local and regional residents interested in Italian culture: be that an exhibition or conference in the University’s Main Building, an Italian film screening at Apolló Cinema, or a language course or concert hosted by our DOLCE (Debrecen Italian Centre) club at the Youth Centre. A part of this mission is also the Dante event series, which we were delighted to host- said László Pete to the news portal hirek.unideb.hu.
The next part of the event was a conference titled “Dante Today” in the Aula venue of the Main Building of the university, which was then concluded with a performance of folk music and dance from the southern part of Italy, jointly prepared by the cultural associations Vivi Budapest and Onde South.
As an annex to this program, an Aperitivo Italiano Jazz & Soul concert was offered to entertain the audience at the DEMKI Youth House on Sunday, October 11.
Press Centre - BZs