20,000 forint - Mór Jókai

One of the most distinguished and complex figures in Hungarian literature, Mór Jókai was born in Komárom on 18 February 1825. He was an extremely prolific author, whose works belong to several literary genres. Numerous novels, short stories, plays, poems and newspaper articles were published under his name. The first success as a writer came to him after the novels Egy magyar nábob (A Hungarian Nabob) and Zoltán Kárpáthy. He was also active in politics and public life. He met Sándor Petőfi while he was still at school. He was one of the Young people of March, and supported the 1848–1849 Revolution and War of Independence as an editor of newspapers and periodicals in Pest and Debrecen. Being a member of Parliament, he served his country as a politician for decades. He was a corresponding member of the Kisfaludy Society, and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences from 1858 and from 1860, respectively, and a regular member from 1861. In 1876, he became a founding member and president of the Petőfi Society. His achievements and contributions were acknowledged with several awards. In honour of the ‘Great Hungarian storyteller’, on the two-hundredth anniversary of his birth, the MNB is issuing a 20,000 forints silver collector coin and its non-ferrous metal version of 3,000 forints on 18 February 2025. Also celebrating his legacy in literature and culture, the collector coins commemorate the life's work and the iconic figure of Jókai, a well-respected writer recognised by his contemporaries.