Magyar Posta is issuing a commemorative stamp to mark the centenary of the birth of István Nemeskürty, honoree of the Hungarian Corvin Chain, winner of the Széchenyi, Attila József, Béla Balázs and Kossuth Prizes, writer, literary and film historian, university professor and retired brigadier general. Forty thousand copies of the stamp designed by the graphic artist Barnabás Baticz were produced by ANY Security Printing Company.
István Nemeskürty (1925-2015) was a prominent figure in the world of Hungarian literature, theatre and film, who had a significant impact on Hungarian culture through the broad scope of his work. He was the first president of the Hungarian Corvin Chain Board after it was re-established in 2001, held a doctorate from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and was a member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts. Due to his wide range of interests, intellectual versatility and artistic dedication, he has left a lasting impression in many fields. His work in shaping national consciousness and building awareness of
history was also evident in his activity as a writer, dramaturg, and theatre and film director. He also won acclaim as a man of letters and essayist. He graduated from the Eötvös Loránd University and was also a cadet at the Royal Hungarian Ludovica Military Academy. He worked as an editor, then headed the Budapest Film Studio and Mafilm between 1959 and 1987, and was the director of the Hungarian Film Institute from 1984 to 1986. He served as president of Hungarian Television, the Hungarian Chamber of University and College Teachers, and the Chamber of Hungarian Writers, and honorary president of the Community of Hungarian Journalists. One of the outstanding figures of 20th- and 21st-century Hungarian culture, he contributed through his rich oeuvre to the development of national literature, film and theatre. From 1998 to 2001, as the Government Commissioner for the Millennium, he organised and managed the Millennial celebrations. At his suggestion, the country created a lasting reminder of its thousand years of statehood in the form of a Millennium flag, which was distributed to all municipalities.
The commemorative stamp features a portrait of István Nemeskürty and a picture of the Millennium flag. The first day cover shows him writing, with the logo of the Hungarian Corvin Chain Board in the background. The motifs of the imprint of the postmark on the commemorative first day cover are the schematic image of the coronation sceptre used in the years of the Millennium and the signature of this distinguished person.
