Mihály Munkácsy was born in Munkács (now Mukachevo, Ukraine) on February 20., 1844; his original name was Mihály Leó Lieb.
After his parents died, he and his siblings went to live with relatives.

An orphan, the painter went to live in Békéscsaba from Miskolc at the age of 8. István Reök, his mother’s brother, became his guardian, and no matter where life took him, his guardian’s place in Békés was always home for Munkácsy.
Gizella, his younger sister also lived in the town at Mrs Sarolta Reök Steiner’s place in Gyula Street. The house has been a Munkácsy Memorial House - an unique example of its kind - since 1994. Of the collection of his original works in the Hungarian National Gallery, 21 paintings that offer a glimpse at various stages of his oeuvre are exhibited here.

Built in 1914, the Mihály Munkácsy Museum in the vicinity of the Memorial House contains the painter’s relics and documents as well as the photos taken of him.