’Our Most Brilliant Mind and the First Among Hungarian Scientists’’ Ottó Herman

By staging this joint exhibition, the Museum of Ethnography and the Museum of the Hungarian Parliament pay tribute to the memory of the great Hungarian polymath Ottó Herman on the occasion of the 190th anniversary of his birth and the 110th anniversary of his death.

Ottó Herman’s achievements as an ethnographer and his political engagement are the exhibition's focus brought to the audience by the collaboration of the two museums. The curators aimed to display a significant quantity of artefacts from the 3500-piece collection related to Ottó Herman. Of course, this huge collection cannot be presented in its entirety, but the exhibition offers a selection from it that faithfully reflects Herman’s approach to objects, collection methods and museum-oriented thinking.

Within the framework of the exhibition, the milestones of Herman’s political career, his activities in the House of Representatives, his specific way of thinking and speaking style are closely connected with certain ethnographic topics. In addition, the temporary exhibition gives, often with a hint of humour, a comprehensive picture of Herman’s unique character, appearance and behaviour, which made him a favourite figure of the caricaturists of the time.