In 1827, István Széchenyi founded the National Casino, which operated under the name Pest Casino until 1830. It was the first and most prestigious social club in Hungary. With the model of English gentlemen's clubs in mind, Széchenyi sought to create a place for the country's leading figures where they could engage in informal discussions on matters of public interest.
From 1835 onward, members of the National Casino were encouraged to sign testamentary declarations, the wording of which was composed by Széchenyi himself. In these declarations, "the members commit themselves to arranging their last will in due time, while still in good health, and at the same time promise that in their testament they will also remember the Casino and leave it a small token of remembrance." The testament was displayed on the premises and signed by many; these names were read aloud year after year at the general assemblies and recorded in the association's annual reports.
In his will of 27 April 1833, Count István Széchenyi bequeathed a golden chalice to the Casino. He later supplemented this provision on 5 December 1841, stating: "I donate to the society of the Pest National Casino a chalice worth two hundred gold coins […] every year a shareholders' banquet shall be held there, and on that occasion the said chalice shall be drained in my memory, filled with the finest wine of that year." In his 1833 testament he further stipulated that the inscription on the chalice should read: "He does not die who lives in the memory of his homeland," which he later amended in 1841 to: "He who lives beloved."
On 4 June 1848, Széchenyi presided over a general assembly; this was the last occasion on which the members saw him in the Casino's headquarters. Nevertheless, for a board meeting in November 1856, he sent an ornate chess set as a gift from the Döbling sanatorium.
Széchenyi's widow and his sons, Béla and Ödön, fulfilled his last wishes, and a few years after his death they presented the Casino with the elaborately crafted ceremonial chalice. On 1 February 1864, the first commemorative speech was delivered, and the highly treasured chalice was used for the first time, when Baron Béla Wenckheim spoke before the chalice was ceremonially emptied. From that time onward, the Széchenyi Banquet was held annually, with the exception of certain years during the wars (1914–1920, 1944) and for economic reasons in 1932 and 1933. Even in those years, however, the speeches associated with the chalice were delivered at the annual general assemblies.
Andrea Gyuricza