Babits and his wife Sophie Török bought the summer home in 1924, when it consisted of just a single room and a kitchen. They made several additions to the home, where Babits produced some of his most important works, among them The Book of Jonas, a soul-searching work about the terrors of fascism.
A permanent exhibition, created by the museologist Franciska Tóth and interior designer István Ágoston, has opened in the home. A film showing recitations of Babits's poetry by Péter Simon will be shown in the dining room.
One of the curiosities that has been preserved is a wall which contains the autographs of writers that came to visit Babits and his wife there. Babits's contemporary, the humourist Endre Nagy, alleged the couple touched up the autographs of the people they liked the best - among them Miklós Radnóti, Gyula Illyés, Frigyes Karinthy and Lorinc Szabó - with paint, while they offered their less liked guests a soft lead pencil so their names could be easily erased.
The renovation was financed by the local council of Esztergom (HUF 53 million), the Petőfi Literary Museum (HUF 6 million) and the Ministry of Education and Culture (HUF 4 million).
The poet's nephew, 76-year-old István Babits, was present at the inauguration of the renovation.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo MTI
