On Thursday, an exhibition opened showcasing the photographs taken by the French photojournalist Jean-Pierre Pedrazzini during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. The photographs are being exhibited at the Balassi Institute in Budapest, which is a background institution of the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice. The show, entitled ‘Photographer of Freedom’, comprises more than twenty works by the photographer, who was fatally wounded during the Revolution.

At the exhibition opening, Pál Hatos, Director of the Balassi Institute, said that the photographs will be on display until 4 November to mark the 56th anniversary of the 1956 Revolution and Freedom Fight. He said that the goal of the Institute is to promote the reputation of Hungary among the community of nations, and for this reason the exhibition is dedicated to the memory of the French photographer ‘who shed his blood for us.’

In his opening address, Zoltán Kovács, State Secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, underlined the importance of the commemoration. He said that for decades it was forbidden to speak of such a major event as the 1956 Freedom Fight, and this was the greatest catastrophe in Hungarian history. He added that the colleagues of Jean-Pierre Pedrazzini, who died aged just 29, called him ‘the photographer of freedom’. ‘Through his pictures we can experience from the inside what happened in the Revolution,’ said the State Secretary.

Mr Kovács said that photography is playing a central role in the 56th anniversary events, as a photographic exhibition centred on the Revolution is being jointly organized by the Terror House Museum and the Media Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA). In addition to this, there will be an exhibition of photographs in Kossuth tér, in front of Parliament. The State Secretary said that the Revolution is a ‘cause for pride, faith and mourning’.

As a photographer for Paris Match, Jean-Pierre Pedrazzini travelled the world, even going to the Soviet Union. He arrived in Hungary on 27 October 1956 and was fatally wounded in Köztársaság tér, Budapest, on 30 October. He is one of the few people who have been posthumously awarded the French Légion d'honneur. The photographs in the exhibition have come from the Hungarian Institute in Paris.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)