A full-length feature film about the life of Dr. József Béres Sr., entitled “The Inventor”, debuted in cinemas around the country on 6 February 2020. The film, co-produced by Projekt Film and the Hungarian Media Services and Support Trust Fund (MTVA), was directed by Bence Gyöngyössy. The biographical drama tells the exciting story of the origin of the product Béres Drops and of Dr. József Béres’ uncompromising struggle with the research authorities during the sixties and seventies.
The National Commemoration and Reverence Committee has declared the resting place of Dr. József Béres Sr., founder of the eponymous Béres Pharmaceuticals (the cemetry in Kisvárda, Akácfa Street), to be a part of the National Garden of Remembrance. The National Garden of Remembrance is a virtual cemetery covering the whole of Hungary that consists of the resting places of deceased people deemed to have served Hungary through their work, to have enhanced Hungary’s reputation or to have furthered the country’s development. These graves are protected, meaning they cannot be disturbed, and all rights to issue instructions regarding them and to ensure protection over them are exercised by the National Institute of Heritage.
A TV series portraying the life of Dr. József Béres (1920–2006) has been produced entitled Cseppben az élet (‘Life in a Drop’). The four-part series covers roughly ten years from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies, focusing on a particularly dramatic period in the life of the founder of Béres Drops.
In his hometown, Záhony, a park has been named after the inventor.
István Fazekas: The Budapest Újszínház has staged a play entitled ‘Béres’, based on Fazekas’ play ‘The Accused’.
“I would hazard to recommend this book as required reading. Not from a lack of modesty or out of arrogance, but from the sincere belief that by studying the exceptional life of an exceptional person, we access a resource that we all need – all of us, without exception. We receive an example of diligence, of perseverance, of humanity, of values that are true and timeless. … An example that we can draw from, that we can rely on, and that will guide us when we reach our own crossroads in life. And faith. Faith that Providence exists and that justice will triumph”, writes Klára Béres, the author of the book.
A stage drama by István Fazekas entitled ‘The Accused’, inspired by the struggles of legendary Hungarian inventor Dr. József Béres Sr., debuts in Kecskemét, at the Katona József Studio Theatre.
A documentary produced for Duna Television by Barna Kabay and Katalin Petényi.
The documentary by Barna Kabay and Katalin Petényi is made for the 2015 World Expo in Milan as part of the ‘Italian-Hungarian Heritage’ documentary series, at the behest of the Hungarian Ministry of Human Resources.
A statue is erected to Dr. József Béres Sr. in the hall of the Kálmán Kandó Technical School of Transportion, Grammar Academy and Dr. József Béres Campus in Záhony.
Historical drama by Jókai Prize-winning writer István Fazekas on the events surrounding the abuse that Dr. József Béres Sr. was subject to when living in Kisvárda, as well as the story of a poet-and-actor husband and wife from Kosice who hope that Béres Drops will cure their sick child.
An oil painting by the painter József Tóth-Kovács from Csongrád.
A full-size statue is erected to Dr. József Béres Sr. in the town of his birth, Záhony, in September 2014.
At the University of West Hungary, the new lecture hall of the Faculty of Economics, with a capacity for two hundred people, is named Béres Hall.
A biology, chemistry and physics laboratory, named after Dr. József Béres Sr., is inaugurated at the Bessenyei György Grammar School in Kisvárda.
The Council of Budapest’s Third District decides to rename the former Keve-Kiserdei Primary School after Dr. József Béres, the inventor of Béres Drops. As part of the naming ceremony, a bronze relief of József Béres by sculptor Barna Búza is unveiled at the entrance to the school.
To mark the 40th anniversary of the invention of Béres Drops, the Council of Kisvárda decides to organise a ceremony in the town, during which a park in the heart of the city named after the legendary inventor is officially opened.
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the ‘birth’ of Béres Drops, Szolnok City Council and Béres Pharmaceuticals team up to install a medicinal drinking fountain in Szolnok in honour of esteemed researcher Dr. József Béres Sr. The water fountain, which forms part of group of sculptures, is the work of Gábor Miklya, a sculptor from Pécs, and the winner of a competition announced almost two years previously. The ‘Béres well’, with its curative mineral water, offers the healing power of nature to those who use it, as do the legendary drops of József Béres.
The Dr. József Béres Health Centre, located between Nagyhalász and Ibrány, opens its doors on 1 June 2011 and offers a high level of outpatient care to a catchment of nearly 28,000 people.
Made on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of his birth, installed at Kisvárda City Library. By sculptor Búza Barna.
The public area bordered by Verseghy Park and the Tisza River bears the name of Dr. József Béres, in memory of the esteemed scientist. As part of the events of Szolnok City Day 2009, the city of Szolnok paid tribute to the founder of Béres Ltd, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
The József Béres Society for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge, Kisvárda Chapter, is registered by the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Court.
On the occasion of the inventor’s birthday, the József Béres Memorial Museum was opened at the Szolnok site of Béres Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
On 7 February 2008, the bust of Dr. József Béres, creator of Béres Drops, was placed at the Semmelweis Museum of Medical History, among the statues of other greats of Hungarian medicine. During his difficult life, he confronted misunderstanding, envy and professional jealousy head on, because his personal mission was the protection of human life.
In memory of Dr. József Béres a memorial plaque was placed at his former place of work in Kisvárda at the Teichmann site.
At Anarcs Primary School a room was named in honour of Dr. József Béres Sr., announced by a commemorative plaque.
The new name of the Kandó Kálmán Secondary School of Transport, Grammar School and Campus in Záhony is Kálmán Kandó Technical School of Transportion, Grammar Academy and Dr. József Béres Campus.
In the film Az utolsó szó után (‘After the Last Word’), made in 2002, four of the one-time patients from Ferenc Kósa’s film Az utolsó szó jogán (‘A Right to the Last Word’) are interviewed. They tell of their healing – people for whom the Drops have been an integral part of their lives for years.
In Klára Béres’ book, Dr. József Béres Sr. talks to his son about his life, his work, his struggles, and his destiny.
The film Vadócba rózsát (‘Wild Gorse Crossed with Roses’ ) is a presentation of the stages of an extraordinary life journey, and a tribute to a man whose consistently held values were exemplary, in any age and in any system.
In 1976, film director Ferenc Kósa shot a documentary film about the work of Dr. József Béres and his achievements in curing cancer patients. However, the political situation at the time meant that the film was condemned to be locked away in a drawer. After ten years, in 1986, the director received permission to complete the documentary, which was released to the general public in 1987 under the title Az utolsó szó jogán (‘A Right to the Last Word’).