On June 22, 2023, the National Academic Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Astana hosted the presentation of the collection of poems by the outstanding Hungarian poet Sandor Petofi "Love and Freedom". This event was dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the poet's birth.
The event, organized by the Turkic Academy jointly with the Embassy of Hungary in the Republic of Kazakhstan, was attended by the President of the Turkic Academy Shahin Mustafayev, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Hungary to the Republic of Kazakhstan Otto Ivan Rona, ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions of a number of Turkic and European countries, public figures and statesmen, literary scholars and representatives of intelligentsia. The Head of the Turkic Academy, who delivered a welcoming speech, noted that Sandor Petofi was not only a world-famous poet, but also a national hero of the Hungarian people, who devoted his short but bright life to the struggle for the independence of Hungary. Sh. Mustafayev also said that the Turkic Academy is successfully implementing a number of projects in the direction of studying history and culture together with the Hungarian side. In particular, the work of the Academy contributes to the popularization of such names as Armin Vamberi, Gyula Nemeth, Istvan Kongur Mandoki, important for the Turkic world. For his part, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Hungary to the Republic of Kazakhstan Otto Ivan Rona noted that, in his opinion, the collection of poems published by the Turkic Academy as a part of celebration of the 200th anniversary of the poet would make Sandor Petofi's work even closer to Kazakhstani readers. It is worth noting that this edition, translated by the well-known Kazakh poet Kadyr Mirza Ali, was also presented to the reader in an electronic version, accessible via a QR code. Thus, it was taken into account that nowadays there is a wide range of readers using gadgets and other means for reading electronic books. Epub and PDF versions of the book can be easily downloaded using the QR code on the book cover. In addition, as part of the presentation, the exhibition dedicated to the life and work of S. Petofi was organized. Within the framework of the exhibition, prepared by the Hungarian Embassy in Kazakhstan, the guests were presented with rich data on the life and work of Sandor Petofi, who, having lived only 26 year, managed to leave an indelible mark on the history of world literature.
