Obverse. Photo © Magyar Nemzeti Bank
  • 2000 Forint 2017, KM# 923, Hungary, 125th Anniversary of Birth of László Lajtha
  • 2000 Forint 2017, KM# 923, Hungary, 125th Anniversary of Birth of László Lajtha
Description

János László Leitersdorfer (László Lajtha) (1892–1963) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, and music educator who received the Kossuth Prize. He studied at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and in Leipzig, Geneva, and Paris. Lajtha earned a doctorate in economics in 1913 and curated the Hungarian National Museum's instrument collection. He collected folk music with Bartók and Kodály, directed the Ethnographic Museum, and taught at the National Conservatory, where he was director from 1945 to 1949. He won the Kossuth Prize in 1951, shared it with poorer musicians, and was elected to the French Academy in 1955. He received the Hungarian Heritage Prize posthumously in 2001.

Obverse

Depicts the portrait of László Lajtha with the inscriptions appearing in four rows on the right, indicating the composer's birth and death years. The engraver's privy mark is hidden within Lajtha's clothing on the left.

Engraver: Balázs Pelcz

1892
LAJTHA
LÁSZLÓ
1963
PB

Reverse

Depicts a dynamic spinning folk dancing couple with musicians in the background. This motif highlights one of László Lajtha's key contributions: the research and collection of folk dances and music. Lajtha, awarded the Kossuth Prize in 1951 for his folk music research, pioneered the purposeful collection of instrumental folk music. His detailed descriptions, initially controversial, later became an authentic source for the dance hall movement, solidifying his role as a cornerstone of this cultural revival.

The design features essential elements: the country name on the top, the denomination below, the year of the issue on the left and the mintmark (BP.) Under at least tenfold magnification, microtext can be seen within the mint mark.

Engraver: Andrea Horváth

MAGYARORSZÁG
2017 BP
2000 FORINT

Edge
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Copper Nickel
Weight 12.5 g
Diameter 30 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Budapest Mint (BP)

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