From among the vast number of programmes organised in conjunction with the World Exhibition, the Capa Centre’s display evoking the figure of Zsigmond Széchenyi is one of the independent initiatives, the government commissioner responsible for the World of Hunting and Nature Exhibition said at the Monday opening of the exhibition.

Zoltán Kovács recalled that some 1,500 programme elements seek to provide a cross-section of Hungarian hunting culture on an area of 74,000 square metres at the Hungexpo fair centre, at three other top sites in the countryside and at more than 530 further venues around the country.

One of the goals of the World Exhibition is to find the persons who deserve to be elevated to the status of ‘cult figure,’ he observed, adding that in Hungarian hunting culture three figures stand out, and from among them Zsigmond Széchenyi is perhaps the first.

By Mr Kovács’s account, a film was first made about the life of Széchenyi on the occasion of the World Exhibition, and since then films about the lives of Kálmán Kittenberger and István Fekete have also been released.

Zsigmond Széchenyi stands out from his own time not only due to his personality and hunting activity, but also because in the last phase of his life he put his gun down and exchanged it for a camera. He recognised that in our changing world it is man’s responsibility to show himself in new forms, the government commissioner stressed.

In Africa in Zsigmond Széchenyi’s life the situation of wildlife changed dramatically, having sustained almost irreparable damage. He, however, wanted to draw attention to the means with which man’s immense irresponsibility can be stopped, he observed.

Mr Kovács added that in the second half of the 20th century several African countries banned hunting altogether, but it has been proved since that responsible, sustainable hunting is the pledge of the preservation of wildlife.

Orsolya Kőrösi, Managing Director of the Capa Centre said the exhibition – beyond introducing Zsigmond Széchenyi’s interesting life and scientific work – is about passion for hunting.

Orsolya Kőrösi told the Hungarian news agency MTI that on the occasion of the World Exhibition, the Capa Centre will also organise a free nature photography exhibition which will be open to visitors until 14 October. In Erzsébet tér, two conventional shipping containers were converted into a spectacular open-air exhibition space with dozens of photos

showcasing the beauty of nature, the interaction between human activity and nature, and animals living in the wild or urbanised.

István Virágvölgyi, curator of the now-opened exhibition recalled that Zsigmond Széchenyi’s widow, Margit Hertelendy died on 6 September; this exhibition is also a tribute to her.

The Capa Centre’s exhibition displays a selection of the photo materials of twenty-five photo albums preserved by Széchenyi’s widow as well as original documents, film and sound recordings, while three animals killed by Zsigmond Széchenyi in Africa in 1960 – a blue wildebeest, an Oryx gazella (gemsbok) and a leopard – are also on display. Most of the photos featured in the exhibition were taken by Zsigmond Széchenyi, while the rest of the images feature the hunter himself, members of his family and surviving documents – these have never before been on display together.

The expert of the exhibition open until 28 November is Tamás Gyorgyevics, Zsigmond Széchenyi’s biographer, and the Hungarian Natural History Museum served as professional partner.