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Békéscsaba, the town

of Munkácsy

Mihály Munkácsy
Mihály Munkácsy is one of the best-known and most re-
spected painters of our country and our town; he lived and
worked in Békéscsaba for many years. A square, a street, a
museum, and even a bridge, were named aft er him.
Munkácsy was 8 years old when he moved to the house
of his uncle, István Reök, in Békéscsaba. He spent many
happy moments in the house on Gyulai Street, which
houses the Munkácsy Memorial House today.
Later, his uncle made the boy a carpenter’s apprentice,

and he learned his first profession after having overcome
many diffi culties. The street where the workshop was lo-

cated is called Mihály Munkácsy Street now. He had the

first glimpse of his love, Ilona Bartóki, on the banks of the
Élővíz (Live Water) Canal, near today’s Munkácsy Brid-
ge. At the age of 16, he began to study painting. He loved
to depict the people around him, the familiar faces, and
even the outlaws, in his paintings. He soon started off on
the bumpy road that led him to many other towns and
countries, enabling him to achieve world fame as one of
the greatest painters.
Munkácsy Memorial House
The Memorial House of Békéscsaba’s great painter was

opened in 1994, on the 150th anniversary of Mihály
Munkácsy’s birth. In the beautiful mansion, built in the
1840s, 21 original Munkácsy paintings reflect the master’s

most creative periods.

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