2008. február 21., csütörtök

The boys and the Queen


Someone save the Queen!
Originally uploaded by lauronsky

This is the adaptation of my Hungarian post to non-Hungarians.

I found a fantastic photo in the photostream of Lauronsky: the Queen surrounded by bearded warriors. (Mr. 5000 is an exception, but he also was in the army.) Yes, all of them are important. There are seven types of banknotes in the Republic of Hungary. Five of them represent kings and princes. Two notes are decorated with politicians. None of the Hungarian banknotes portray women.
I was thinking which Hungarian woman could be on a banknote? It could be Maria Theresa; she was queen of the Hungarian Kingdom, but she wasn't Hungarian. Queen Elisabeth – not Sissy -, the Anjou queen had no important historical role. Queen Mary, widow of Luis II? She wasn’t successful. It could be the women of Eger; they were warriors, not bearded, but warriors who fought the Turkish. (The Ministry of Tourism can popularize goulash soup by putting it on banknotes.)
It could be two of our mythical ancestors, the turul bird and the beautiful Emese in the intimate moment of the procreation of the Hungarians. It would be a very popular banknote.
Or it could be a lesser known person: Margit Slachta. She had noble ancestors and she was a teacher. She created a Catholic Women's Movement to resolve social problems of the working class and she has numerous conflicts with the Hungarian Catholic clergy. She organized agricultural cooperatives during a Communist Republic in Hungary. (Today the word cooperative sounds a blasphemy to some of our right wing.)
Slachta became the first congresswoman of the Hungarian Parliament in 1920. She opposed Fascism and saved many Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. She was a Monarchist and acted against the Communists after WW2. She was against some ideas of modern democracy, but she was always consistent and independent. (Anybody persecuted by both Fascists and Communists must be a good person.) Her immunity was revoked and she left Hungary. She worked for Radio Free Europe until her death. As far as I know, no public place honors her name in Hungary.
If anybody has other ideas about which Hungarian women should be on our banknotes, let me know. No more bearded warriors, please.

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