Hungarian Freedom Monument, (sculpture).

Hungarian Freedom Monument, (sculpture).

Popovits, Zoltan, sculptor.

Popovits, Stephen, designer.

Hungarian Freedom Monument, (sculpture).

Hungarian Freedom Fighters Memorial, (sculpture).

1968. Dedicated Oct. 27, 1968.

Digital Reference:

Figure: bronze; Stele: rubble cement; Foundation: concrete pad with metal candle holders.

Figure: approx. H. 8 ft. W. 4 ft. 6 in.; Stele: approx. 20 ft. x 6 ft. x 14 in.

(Lower right:) Pop (...illegible) 1968 (Lower front of stele, incised:) IN MEMORY/OF THE 1956/HUNGARIAN/UPRISING (Middle back of stele, incised:) ...WE HERE HIGHLY RESOLVE/THAT THESE DEAD SHALL NOT/HAVE DIED IN VAIN-/LINCOLN/AZ NEM LEHET HOGY ANNYI/SZIV HIABA ONTA VERT.../VOROSMARTY (Lower back of stele, incised:) ERECTED BY/THE HUNGARIANS AND THE/COMMEMORATING COMMITTEE/OF COLORADO/JOHN A. LOVE/GOVERNOR/THOMAS G. CURRIGAN/MAYOR/ETIENNE C. PERENYI/CHAIRMAN/1968 signed

A bronze figure of a male youth is depicted breaking through an iron curtain. His head is turned to the proper right, his arm is extended, and his proper left knee is bent. The bronze figure is affixed to the upper middle section of the front of a tall rubble cement stele. The stele features inscriptions on front and back. The stele is set on a concrete pad which has a row of metal candle holders.

Figure male -- Full length

History -- Hungary

Allegory -- Civic -- Rebellion

Allegory -- Civic -- Liberty

Outdoor Sculpture -- Colorado -- Denver

Administered by City and County of Denver, Department of Parks & Recreation, 2300 15th Street, Suite 150, Denver, Colorado 80202

Located Hungarian Freedom Park, Speer Boulevard & 1st Avenue, Denver, Colorado

Formerly administered by City and County of Denver, Commission on Cultural Affairs, Ste. 1600, 1st Western Plaza, 303 W. Colfax Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80204

Gift of Hungarian families of Colorado, the Commemorating Committee of Denver, and several area firms. The quote on the stele from Abraham Lincoln comes from his Gettysburg address. The passage on the stele from Hungarian poet Michael Vorosmarty translates: "It should not be that so many hearts have shed blood in vain." Every October 25th, local Hungarians commemorate the 1956 uprising with a ceremony in Hungarian Freedom Park. IAS files contain copies of newspaper articles from the Denver Post, Oct. 28, 1968, which discusses the dedication; and Rocky Mountain News, Oct. 22, 1990, which discusses a remembrance of the Hungarian freedom fighters slain in the 1956 uprising; the ceremony, held in Hungarian Freedom Park, included candles burning in the candle holders at the base of the monument. IAS files also contain unpublished archival material and copies of unidentified newspaper clippings discussing the dedication of Hungarian Freedom Park in 1966 and the dedication of the monument in 1968.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Colorado, Denver survey, 1993.

City and County of Denver, 1987.

City and County of Denver, Mayor's Office of Art, Culture and Film, 1996.

Public Monument Conservation Project, 1986.

Denver Post, Oct. 28, 1968.

Rocky Mountain News, Oct. 22, 1990.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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