Márton Izsák

Márton Izsák (12 April 1913 – 1 February 2004) was a prolific Transylvanian Jewish sculptor of Hungarian descent, noted personality and recipient of the honorary citizenship award from the city of Târgu Mureș, Romania.

The son of Jakab Izsák (a government official, professional soldier, and eventual store owner), by arranged marriage to Vilma Friedmann, Márton was born in Galócás (now Gălăuțaș, Harghita County). After his family home in Gheorgheni burned down in World War I, his family spent some years in Petelea, before eventually settling down in Târgu Mureș.

During his time at the art school, he produced many notable works, including several collaborations with . His Monument to the Deportees, erected in Dej in front of the local Orthodox synagogue is one of the earliest Holocaust memorials to be erected in Europe, Many of his other works still are on display in several cities, but primarily in Târgu Mureș – including the notable "Two Bolyai" in Bolyai Square in Târgu Mureș. of his statue of Joseph Stalin, erected just five years earlier in 1957, is remembered as signifying the metaphorical end of the Soviet occupation of Romania during De-Stalinization in Romania.

Mysterious disappearance of the Stalin statue in 1962 According to local tales, the Târgu Mureș statue was not officially destroyed — it simply disappeared overnight, without indication of where it went or what was done with it. All this occurred against a background of significant political upheaval, including the start and end of the Magyar Autonomous Region, the de-Stalinization process, and Romania's gradual distancing from the Warsaw Pact.

The event has entered public folklore, and to this day continues to be a subject of conversation and the source of several urban myths — for example, the popular idea that the statue was originally meant to contain a library in its base (which is also a myth related to the Bucharest statue), or that the library was actually constructed — still currently exists. Some claim that the statue is still stored inside.

Selected works His works include the following:

Monument to the Deportees (Bronze, 1947, Dej) Wedding customs (relief, 1951, Sfântu Gheorghe, theater façade) Nicolae Bălcescu (bust, in Sfântu Gheorghe) István Szentgyörgyi (1953, Târgu Mureș, in front of the College of Theater) Stalin (1955, Târgu Mureș with ; demolished in 1962) The poet (20 February 1968, in front of the Salamon Ernő High School, Gheorgheni) Mihai Eminescu (1969, 1989 Târgu Mureș) Andor Bernath (1974, Saint John the Baptist Church, Târgu Mureș) Béla Bartók (bust, 1980, Târgu Mureș) George Enescu statue composition (1983, Târgu Mureș) Holocaust Memorial (2003, Târgu Mureș)