Ferenc Házmán was born into a German speaking Catholic family two-hundred years ago, in 1840, in Buda. He began working for the Town Council in Buda. Soon he became the head counsel, then the head notary of the town. He was among the funding members of the Buda Casino, the National Industry Body and the National Patent Society. He was an MP in 1843-44, then again in 1847-48. He was the first to make his speech in Hungarian at the council.

Counsellor and head of the department

The Batthyány administration brought on crucial changes in his life: The home secretary appointed him counsellor and the head of the department. After the dethronement on 14 April 1849, he was moved to the home office of the Szemere administration. He escaped and fled to Turkey during the last days of the War of Independence, but before that he helped in hiding the crown and the insignia near Orsova. He followed Lajos Kossuth in his emigration to Asia. Escaping from there, he moved to New York in 1851.

Házmán studied photography. In a letter to Szemere dating 4 February 1853 Házmán wrote the following: 'My Dear Friend, Meade Henrik, a daguerrei artist, is my teacher. On his journey to France, he is asking for permission to visit you. On the occasion, he would like to take a photo of you and Batthyány, too.'

The price of returning to Hungary: oath of faithfulness

During his emigration he worked as a language teacher, wine tradesman, in the 1860 he experimented with silkworms, with variable success. The price he had to pay for being able to return to Hungary would have been his oath of faithfulness. So, he chose to return only after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. A document we show from the National Archives is a proof of his decline to take oath.

He was the Mayor of Buda until 1873.

After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 he was appointed Mayor in the town of his birth, and worked as such until the union of Buda and Pest in 1873 he was the Mayor of Buda. For another four terms he was a government party MP. He was the first to mention the union of Buda and Pest at the Parliament session in 1847-48. Even though nominated, he was not chosen Mayor of Budapest, instead Károly Ráth. In the 1880s he decided to retire from public life. His career Mór Jókai probably have found most inspiring ended on 14 April 1894.

The exhibition presents this adventurous life via 80 items, including personal belongings, photos, portraits, documents.

In addition to the Budapest Historic Museum, the following institutes rented items to show:

- Budapest Capital Archives
- Hungarian National Museum, Historic Collection
- Hungarian National Museum, Historic Portrait Gallery
- Hungarian National Archives
- Verderber Private Collection