Márton Izsák

In 2003, a public Holocaust memorial was erected in Târgu Mureș, based on a cast and plans originally produced for Dej in 1947. Shortly before his death, he was ordained as Cetățean de onoare [ro] (Honorary Citizen, an order recognizing civic contribution) for the city.

The mysterious overnight removal, in 1962 of his statue of Stalin, erected just five years earlier in 1957, is remembered as signifying the metaphorical end of a Soviet Union domination of Romania during De-Stalinization in Romania.

In 1940, as a result of the Second Vienna Award, Northern Transylvania (including Târgu Mureș) was annexed by Hungary. During the war, Izsák lost 25 relatives, including his mother, in the Nazi death camps of the Holocaust. After Romanian and Soviet troops regained control of the region in Fall 1944, he returned to the city from labor camp. He worked as an instructor and eventually art director at the acclaimed Art High School [ro] in Târgu Mureș, 1945 to 1974.

After moving to the city, he spent some time apprenticing in furniture making under an artist named Géza Rózsa, who noted Márton's artistic talent. At the artist's behest, Márton's father enrolled him in an arts program, and he spent the next 3 years learning how to carve at the Industrial High School in Târgu Mureș, but before finishing he was invited by Rózsa to complete highschool, and then continue to an arts degree, at the College of Applied Arts in Budapest, graduating (notably early for his age) in 1933. While at the College, he studied under notable sculptors Imre Simay [hu] and Lajos Mátrai [ro].

In the late 1930s he returned home to Târgu Mureș, where he gained recognition and eventually presented his works in personal exhibitions in 1936 and in 1937. He remained there until his deportation at the beginning of World War II, despite his fathers' World War I medals, which should have afforded some protection.