In 1954, a Council of Ministers order founded the Museum of Literature Petőfi with the aim of collecting and preserving records of Hungarian literature. The name of the Museum presented itself naturally, since the poesy of Sándor Petőfi, who died young in the 1848–49 War of Independence, symbolises Hungarian poetry to the general reader both within and beyond the borders of the country. The present structure of the institution, specialised in the reception of complex authorial, literary legacies, professional processing, restoration and storage took shape in 1970. Besides the collection departments – the Manuscript Archive, the Library, the Art and Relics Collection and the Audiovisual Library – the newly created Public Relations Department and the Marketing Department organise the Museum’s programmes. The Museum’s tasks have included the supervision of literary collections and exhibitions in areas outside Budapest ever since the institution was established. As a result, the Museum of Literature Petőfi has become an institution with nationwide authority in the field of Hungarian literary museology. The Museum administrates the exhibitions and collections of three provincial branches: the Kassák Museum, the Endre Ady Memorial Museum and the Jókai Memorial Room.