Eszmélet is a Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 quarterly magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 for social critique and culture. Each issue contains essays on current theory, history, an exchange of hot topics, as well as one or two book reviews.

History

The magazine was founded in the summer of 1956 Aurél Bernáth

Aurél Bernáth

Aurél Bernáth was a Hungarian painter. He studied at Nagybánya with István Réti and János Thorma. Bernath fought as a soldier in the First World War. He moved to Vienna in 1921. Bernath's painting style was heavily influenced by the onslaught of German Expressionism. He was invited to Berlin by...

, Tibor Déry

Tibor Dery

Tibor Déry was a Hungarian writer. In his early years he was a supporter of communism, but after being excluded from the ranks of the Hungarian Communist Party in 1953 he started writing satire on the communist regime in Hungary.Georg Lukács praised Dery as being 'the greatest depicter of human...

, Gyula Illyés

Gyula Illyés

Gyula Illyés was a Hungarian poet and novelist. He was one of the so called népi writers, named so because they aimed to show – propelled by strong sociological interest and left-wing convictions – the disadvantageous conditions of their native land.-Early life:He was born...

, Zoltán Kodály

Zoltán Kodály

Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....

, and Georg Lukacs

Georg Lukács

György Lukács was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher and literary critic. He is a founder of the tradition of Western Marxism. He contributed the concept of reification to Marxist philosophy and theory and expanded Karl Marx's theory of class consciousness. Lukács' was also an influential literary...

, and István Mészáros – a disciple of Lukács - was asked to be acting editor. However, because of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, only two "emigrant" editions were published in London, in 1958. "Eszmélet" is the title of a poem by Attila József

Attila József

Attila József was one of the most important and well-known Hungarian poets of the 20th century.-Biography:The son of Áron József, a soap factory worker of Romanian origin from Bánát, and Hungarian peasant girl Borbála Pőcze, he was born in Ferencváros, a poor district of Budapest. He had two elder...

, the famous Hungarian poet.

The journal reappeared in 1989, this time in Hungary. Since 1993 the editor in chief

Editor in chief

An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...

 was László Andor

László Andor

László Andor is a Hungarian economist. He is Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion in the Barroso II administration of the European Commission...

, since 2009 also European Commissioner

European Commissioner

A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each Member within the college holds a specific portfolio and are led by the President of the European Commission...

 for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.

The journal’s articles show a radical and consistent criticism of capitalism

Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...

. It aims to represent social solidarity, individual freedom and human dignity.

In the past two decades, various organizations were formed around the journal (Friends of Eszmélet, Open University of Eszmélet). Their events are open to anyone.

The twentieth anniversary of the journal’s foundation was celebrated in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 with an issue in Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

.