Family, friends and followers said a final farewell in the Piliscsaba cemetery to Géza Szőcs, Hungarian poet and politician from Transylvania, who died at the age of 67.
Géza Szőcs was awarded the Kossuth and József Attila Awards and served as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Chief Cultural Adviser until his death.
Poet and critic Tamás Korpa pointed out that Géza Szőcs was a poet of outstanding talent, and his first volumes were a real change of paradigm in Hungarian poetry from Romania; he also inspired both younger and older generations, at home and beyond his country’s country borders, even leading poetry workshops.
János Dénes Orbán, poet and writer, remembered his role as a constant supporter of young talent and as the founder of the Frontier Garrison literary movement. He noted that Géza Szőcs’s greatest teaching was to “beware of everything that is ordinary. The most important thing is to be exciting, interesting, unique and not perfect. Perfection is the dream of ordinary people. They are the ones who, through elaborate details, try to compensate for the lack of sparkling ideas,” he said, quoting Szőcs.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán emphasized in his farewell speech: “Not only did we have a common past, but we were also planning together for the future. He taught us that power has to be used to achieve the greatest things. […] Géza Szőcs was more than a friend, contemporary poet, politician and adviser, he was a mentor, strategist and spiritual support.” Orbán also quoted the political credo of his main cultural adviser: that the Hungarian nation fulfills a historical mission deeply intertwined with culture.
Featured photo: Photo credits: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
