The Lad of Pest

The statue was created as part of a large-scale commemorative year titled “The Year of Hungarian Freedom,” announced to mark the 60th anniversary of the revolution. The government-coordinated 1956 Memorial Committee provided the necessary funding, and as part of this effort, numerous companies—and, in particular, Hungarian-American private individuals—generously donated to the erection of the monument. Following the success of the Washington monument and other 1956 sculptures, as well as his extensive work in public spaces, Debrecen-based sculptor Juha Richárd was awarded the Mihály Munkácsy Prize for his outstanding contributions to the visual arts.