The Fraknói Centennial series of events, which commenced on February 27, 2024, and lasted for a year, concluded on February 26, 2025, on the eve of the birthday of Vilmos Fraknói (1843–1924), former Secretary General of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, at the Central Seminary. This institution, within whose walls Fraknói, as a seminarian, decided to pursue a career as a historian alongside the priesthood, was also where he composed his first works and academic papers between 1858 and 1864.
On the centenary of his death, workshops (see here and here) and research seminars (see here), the Fraknói Academy in Nagyvárad, the Rome conference, the wreath-laying at the Lateran, the renovation of his tomb, and the commemoration on November 19 all served to recall the memory of the Research Group's namesake. His scholarly contributions, priestly vocation, and personal legacy are permanently commemorated in the Fraknói Memorial Book.
The volume convincingly demonstrates that Fraknói, both as a scholar and a prelate, was at least as significant a figure in Hungarian science and Catholicism as his mentor, patron, and friend Arnold Ipolyi. His patriotism and progressivism, rooted in historicism, place him alongside his close friend Ottokár Prohászka. However, while Ipolyi's legacy and veneration were preserved through ethnography and art history, and Prohászka's memory was steadfastly maintained by the Diocese of Székesfehérvár, Fraknói Vilmos's remembrance gradually faded in comparison to theirs and his historical significance. On the centenary of his death, the Research Group named after him, functioning as a research group at Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest, sought to change this.
Beyond the scholarly volume, a new artistic creation also preserves the memory of the scholar-prelate who passed away a century ago. As a key moment of the closing event on February 26, 2025, the portrait titled "Vilmos Fraknói, Secretary General of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Founder of the Monumenta Vaticana Hungariae," painted by artist Gábor Bükösdi on commission from Péter Tusor for the centenary, was placed on the first-floor corridor of the Central Seminary. Fraknói's portrait was accorded a prominent place near the entrance of the institution's ceremonial hall, alongside the paintings of former seminary rector Arnold Ipolyi, former student János Csernoch, Prohászka, and others, as well as the statue of the eternal historical figure, Péter Pázmány. During the portrait unveiling, brief speeches were delivered by Péter Tusor, Bishop-Rector Levente Balázs Martos, Gábor Bükösdi, and Tamás Fedeles.
Prior to this, during the 12th Fraknói Workshop Lecture held in Room 10 of the Seminary, Péter Tusor presented his latest historiographical findings in a lecture titled "Vilmos Fraknói and the Episcopate: On the Foundation History of the Roman Historical Institute (1910–1913)." At the end of his presentation, he announced that, in coordination with the conclusion of the Fraknói Centennial, the volume of the Bishop's Lexicon (1804–1918) had been published (948 pages). Its dedication is addressed to Vilmos Fraknói, who never formally became a member of the modern Hungarian hierarchy but devoted his entire life to Hungarian historical research, particularly in the Vatican. Through this volume, historiography now offers him due recognition, granting him a virtual place among the most distinguished: József Lonovics, Lajos Haynald, Gusztáv Mailáth, Ágoston Fischer-Colbrie, Ottokár Prohászka, Gyula Glattfelder, and others.
The concluding series of events was brought to a close with a Pontifical Mass celebrated by S.E.R. Levente Balázs Martos in memory of Vilmos Fraknói at the University Church, where his solemn Requiem Mass was originally celebrated. The memorial Mass evoked the milieu of the 19th century through organ works by Franz Liszt (1811–1886) and César Franck (1822–1890), including the Offertory from the Hungarian Coronation Mass and "Prélude, Fugue et Variation in B minor (Op. 18).
PPT (12th Fraknói Seminar Lecture)
Videos below!
