Lajos Kossuth Monument
Riverside Park
For many years on March 15th, Hungarian Independence
Day has been celebrated on Riverside Drive at the monument to patriot Lajos
Kossuth (1802-94). The bronze tableau portrays a vignette of the struggle
for Hungarian independence in 1848. Atop a pedestal of Milford pink granite,
a larger-than-life figure of Kossuth motions to two other male figures at
the base: a revolutionary soldier and an aged peasant, representing Hungary’s
new republic and old regime. Kossuth was born to a family of noble heritage
in Monok in northeastern Hungary. In the early 1830s, he emerged as a leader
of the country’s radical reform movement. Trained as a lawyer, Kossuth edited
several journals and newspapers that allowed him to broadcast his increasingly
popular ideas. He issued fiery pleas for Hungary’s independence from Vienna’s
Hapsburg Monarchy, for emancipation of the peasants, and for industrial development.
Kossuth was elected to the Hungarian Diet (national assembly) in 1847, and
a year later he led the revolution that created a new national government
for Hungary. The new government fell to invading Russian
and Austrian armies in 1849, and Kossuth fled into exile. Rallying support
for Hungarian independence, he dazzled European and American audiences with
his eloquence. Sympathizers in the United States identified with the aims
of overthrowing the foreign monarchy and establishing republican government
for Hungary. Kossuth visited New York in December 1851 at the start of a seven-month
tour of the United States. Upon arrival, he was given a tremendous welcome,
described in the newly-founded New York Times as one of "the most magnificent
and enthusiastic ever extended to any man in any part of the world." A reception
hosted by Mayor Ambrose C. Kingsland, banquets, and a parade up Fifth Avenue
were held in his honor. Kossuth lived in exile in England and (after 1865)
in Italy. After his death in Turin in March 1894, his body was brought to
Budapest and buried in state. On March 15, 1928, a crowd of 25,000 gathered
at Riverside Drive and 113th Street to dedicate the monument to Lajos Kossuth,
designed by Hungarian sculptor Janos Horvai (1873-1944) and funded by American
citizens of Magyar origin. The ceremony was not without controversy. The delegation
of 520 Hungarian public officials encountered a protest denouncing the conservative
Horthy government for "hypocrisy" in honoring Kossuth and his liberal ideals.
In 1930, the monument had to be dismantled due to poor fabrication; later
a second cast was installed. The monument was originally intended to feature
three bronze panels depicting scenes in the life of Kossuth; instead, in 1930,
Horvai presented the panels to the First Hungarian Reformed Church, located
at 344 East 69th Street. Riverside Drive stretches along Riverside
Park from W. 72nd Street north to Dyckman Street. In consideration of New
York’s northward expansion, the City acquired land between the Hudson River
Railroad and the rocky bluffs along the river in 1866-67 for a park and scenic
drive. The original 1875 plan, by Central Park co-designer Frederick Law Olmsted,
called for a park with a picturesque drive winding along the natural contours
of the land. Twenty-five years later, the result was an English-style rustic
park and a formal tree-lined boulevard. A fashionable address at the turn
of the century, Riverside Drive attracted a collection of substantial neo-classical
apartment houses and mansions along its east side. The Drive’s majestic elevation
also made it an impressive location for colossal monuments and institutions,
including Grant’s Tomb (1897) and Riverside Church (1930). The Kossuth
tableau is one of more than a dozen monuments which adorn Riverside Drive,
including sculptures of Samuel Tilden (1926), Joan of Arc (1915),
and Franz Sigel (1907).
Thursday, Jul 06, 2000
