Identity area
Reference code
SJCR/SJCL/8
Unique identifier
Title
Date(s)
- 1957 (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
1 item. Paper.
Context area
Name of creator
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Programme donated by Sue McLaren (2016). The item formerly belonged to her late husband, Sir Robin McLaren, who studied at St. John's College between 1955 and 1958.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Typescript programme for the Hungarian Ball, held on the 1st March 1957. The entertainment for the evening included a performance by the Lithuanian-born British prima ballerina, Svetlana Beriosova (1932-1998).
While no context for the Ball is offered within the programme itself, it is possible that the Ball was held in aid of refugees forced to flee persecution in the aftermath of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. Interestingly, the front cover of the programme depicts the Hungarian national flag with the central 1949-1956 coat of arms removed (the altered flag became a symbol of the Hungarian freedom fighters seeking to counter communist rule). In this version, the coat of arms has been replaced by a black-and-white miniature drawing, which appears to depict refugees climbing onto a raft-like object. The drawing itself is set within an outline mirroring the shape of Hungary.