Steve Jobs Memorial Statue

When Steve Jobs died on October 5, 2011, tributes poured in from across the globe. And in the days following his death, one Hungarian software company commissioned a statue in honor of the co-founder of Apple. Unveiled less than three months after his death, it became the world’s first memorial statue of Steve Jobs.

The statue was unveiled on December 21, 2011, in Graphisoft Park, a science and technology park established by Graphisoft in 1997. It was commissioned by Gabor Bojar, the founder and chairman of Graphisoft, a software company that caught the eye of Jobs back in the 1980s.

Bojar and Jobs first met at an information technology trade show in Germany in 1984, where Graphisoft was presenting the first version of its ArchiCAD three-dimensional design software. Jobs was impressed and agreed to support the small company, which at the time was working within the confines of communist Hungary. Apple supplied cash and computers and introduced Graphisoft to its global distribution network, forever changing the small Hungarian startup.

Upon hearing the news of Jobs’ death, Bojar began thinking of an appropriate tribute. He turned to the Hungarian sculptor Erno Toth, who soon set about sculpting a life-size bronze statue of Jobs. Toth completed the statue in less than two months, and it was unveiled outside the Graphisoft headquarters.

The naturalistic statue shows Jobs in his trademark attire: a long-sleeved mock turtleneck, Levi’s 501 jeans, sneakers, and round glasses. The pose, meanwhile, represents Jobs in his classic on-stage role. It shows a dynamic leader and speaker, an animated figure mid-presentation with one arm raised in a gesture of explanation and the other holding a remote control used during his presentations.

Near the feet of the statue sits a simple memorial plaque inscribed with one of Jobs’ most famous quotes: “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” And the plaque itself, fittingly, is in the shape of an iPad.