Petőfi was already an important member of Hungarian public life at the age of 26, when he disappeared forever in the battle of Segesvár in the 1848/49 War of Independence. We photographed young Hungarians aged 26 who are also successful, but in today's Hungarian society. We interviewed these young people who have been on Forbes magazine's annual "30 successful Hungarians under 30" list in recent years and asked them:
"What are the big issues your generation is concerned with? What do you think Sándor Petőfi should write a poem about if he were alive today?"

DORINA PETŐ AND ANDREA MIKLÓS
PSYCHOLOGISTS AND CO-FOUNDERS OF THE "MÉLYLEVEGŐ PROJEKT” (DEEP-BREATH PROJECT)

"I think my generation is restlessly searching for values to adopt as its own, and proud to stand up for these values in tough situations. But in our twenties, we often forget a fundamental value: our health. We can state that never before have so many resources and so much knowledge about physical and mental health been available. Yet we consider well-being - at society level - at best as a hedonistic, momentary pursuit of pleasure, and so, paradoxically, we voluntarily throw away our health, suppress our difficult feelings, and though there are eight billion of us, yet somehow, we are alone together." (Dorina Pető)

"I would answer with questions: How can we strengthen empathy and understanding for each other? How can we bridge political, ideological, or religious divides to find opportunities for cooperation and joint action?” (Andrea Miklós)

Photo: Róbert László BÁCSI