The Sword, which was made based on the copy of the sword of Balint Balassi, 16th-century renaissance poet and valiant, was handed to Jozsef Tormai by Szeged-Csanad Diocesan Laszlo Kiss-Rigo. On behalf of Gabriel Olembe it was Raymond Irambo, member of the African-Hungarian Union, who took the Sword. Then Irambo recited one of Balassi’s poem in Lingala, translated by Gabriel Olembe.
Every year the presidency of the Board of Trustees of the Balassi Sword awards the literary honour to a poet and translator whose lyre and translations they find worthy of the oeuvre of the 16th-century Hungarian poet.
Jozsef Tornai’s rich career and his closeness to the homeland and the nation was praised by Ferenc Buda, Kossuth Prize Winner poet and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, elected in January this year.
Jozsef Tornai mentioned in his speech that Balassi, as a modern poet, exceeded the age he lived in. ’In Hungarian poetry it was Balassi who, preceeding the psychological research of the 19-20th century, discovered the soul. He portrayed the human soul in a way that was unknown to classical literature at the time’ he said.
Jozsef Tornai is 85 years old this year and besides having published more than 20 volumes of poetry he has added several volumes of prose and literary translations to contemporary Hungarian literature. As chairman of the Hungarian Writers’ Association between 1992 and 1995 he played a major role in organising Hungarian literary public life.
Sandor Balogh, President of the African-Hungarian Union, greeted the participants in Lingala and said: ’Gabriel Zanmaku Olembe de Souza has never forgotten Hungary, his second homeland. He has kept and cherished his Hungarian experiences and the knowledge he gained here and passed on to the Congolese truly. Gabriel Zanmaku Olembe studied in Budapest decades ago. After his return home he translated poems from Ferenc Kolcsey, Sandor Petofi, Attila Jozsef and several other poets. Recently he has translated poems of Balint Balassi into Lingala, a language spoken by 30 million people. He has also founded a civil organisation and a journal to help spread Hungarian culture and literature.’
It was the first year that the Balassi Medallion was assigned and it was awarded to Attila Simon, CEO of the Herend Porcelain Manufactory. The medallion is the work of sculptor, Tibor Rieger.