Message Home – A Glimpse into the Literary Estate of Albert Wass

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On 6 March 2026 a historically significant agreement was concluded between the National Széchényi Library (NSZL) and the Florida-based Czegei Wass Foundation, the custodian of Albert Wass’s estate, concerning the return of the collection to Hungary. The materials arrived in Hungary from the United States on 12 March and were made accessible to the public in the form of an exhibition at our library shortly thereafter. The exhibition Message Home, opened on 26 March, provides the first comprehensive overview of the writer’s legacy returned to Hungary.

 

 

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The literary estate of Albert Wass is substantial in size: a total of four quintals of material arrived in Hungary in two crates and twenty-four plastic containers. The collection includes newspapers, journals, correspondence, and manuscripts. According to experts, the estate may also contain unpublished works in both Hungarian and English, particularly from the final decade of the writer’s life.

The rich material of the exhibition presents the writer’s entire life journey: typewritten works, original manuscripts, pieces of correspondence with actress Zita Szeleczky, photographs, documents related to his role as co-president of the World Federation of Hungarians in Transylvania, as well as personal objects—including his typewriter, writing desk, hiking backpack, and suitcase—are on display.

The exhibition also features English-language publications on the history of Hungarians in Transylvania.

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In his opening speech, Mihály Takaró, Széchenyi Prize-winning literary historian and curator of the estate, emphasized the significance of the writer’s oeuvre, highlighting that the exhibition celebrates not only the author but also his work for the Hungarian community as a whole. He recalled the different periods and changing circumstances of Wass’s life, which deeply influenced his literary perspective, particularly in his exploration of Transylvania. As he put it: “Reading Albert Wass means that with every line, the reader becomes a little more Hungarian. The message has come home. The writer has returned home.”

Dávid Rózsa, Director General of the NSZL, described the exhibition as a reflection of a life’s work that guides visitors through the writer’s life, presenting his key life events, personal objects, and works: “a distillation of an oeuvre shaped by loyalty, unwavering faith, and the pain of exile.”

Among the ideas expressed at the opening, a particularly prominent one was the line from Albert Wass’s poem Message Home: “The water flows, the stone remains.” The exhibition interprets this message as a symbolic summary of the return of the estate: despite the changes of history, preserved values are capable of returning and gaining renewed communal significance.

 

 

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