The Fraknói Centenary (1924–2024) marked a significant event on June 4, 2024, in Rome. June 4 is the anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon and the Day of National Unity. Notably, on the same day in 1882, the committee overseeing the publication of the Monumenta Vaticana Hungariae was established in Budapest under the chairmanship of Cardinal Lajos Haynald, Archbishop of Kalocsa. It was therefore fitting that the Research Group, in Rome for the centenary international memorial conference, paid tribute on this day to the monumental memorial of Hungarian statehood and its commissioner, Vilmos Fraknói, in the Lateran Basilica.
The relief commissioned by Fraknói in 1909 and created by sculptor József Damkó stands above the former tomb of Pope Sylvester II. It depicts the handing over of the Holy Crown, with Patrona Hungariae flanked by Saint Stephen and Saint Ladislaus on either side. Fraknói's name and his abbey at Szentjobb are inscribed on the monument's inscription, while his figure and facial features are immortalized by the prelate standing behind the pope.
Short speeches were delivered during the wreath-laying ceremony by Péter Tusor, Kornél Szovák, Gábor Nemes, and Tamás Fedeles (see here)
