Articles by: György Lázár

University of California at Berkeley The Campanile (University Bell Tower) overlooking San Francisco Bay.

Long running Hungarian program at UC Berkeley on the brink of discontinuation

According to US Census figures about 1.5 million US citizens have Hungarian ancestry and only 10% of them, only about 150 thousand people, are familiar with the Hungarian language. Most speak “kitchen Hungarian” and have problems with reading and writing. Of course, writing a grammatically correct letter or essay in Hungarian is a challenge; few non-native speaker can master the […]

by · September 20, 2015 · Diaspora
FankaDeli at a Jobbik meeting.

FankaDeli – Rascist Hungarian rapper tours US

Ferenc Kőházy is a 32 year old Hungarian rapper, hip-hop artist and arranger. His fans call him FankaDeli. They like his strong opinions and he is the darling of the far-right, always ready to share his outrageous comments on his Facebook page, where he has close to 100 thousand followers. When Apple Computer technology icon Steve Jobs died, he wrote […]

by · September 16, 2015 · Diaspora
Mr. Fellegi and Ms. Kounalakis at the Hunnovators Conference in March 2015.

Former US Ambassador to Hungary says Orbán is a xenophobe

Eleni Kounalakis, who was the US ambassador to Hungary from 2010 to 2013, recently published a memoir about her service entitled – Madam Ambassador, Three Years of Diplomacy, Dinner Parties and Democracy in Budapest. The book contains critical remarks of the Orbán government. Now Ambassador Kounalakis has written an opinion piece in The New York Times calling Mr. Orbán a […]

by · September 11, 2015 · Politics
Magdolna Rózsa

My hero, Magdolna Rózsa – free haircuts for refugees in Hungary

Magdolna is a hair stylist in Budapest and that is the only thing I know about her. On a hot day she went down to the Keleti Railway Station in Budapest where thousands of refugees were stranded. She set up a chair and started to give free haircuts for kids. She had a sign: Free Haircuts. And that is the […]

by · September 7, 2015 · Culture
Zsolt Enyedi

Zsolt Enyedi at UC Berkeley – Hungary’s challenge to liberal democracy

Zsolt Enyedi, Professor of Political Science at Central European University Budapest, will speak at the University of California at Berkeley on September 2, 12-1:30 p.m., 270 Stephens Hall. (Details here.) For some of us it is becoming clear that Fidesz is pursuing the same far-right policies as Jobbik, Hungary’s neo-Nazi party, and the country is slowly becoming a totalitarian state. […]

by · September 2, 2015 · Politics
The famous May West revue with muscle man.

Mickey (Miklós) Hargitay – California’s Hungarian muscle man

Mickey Hargitay was probably the first Hungarian immigrant who became the quintessential Californian, the idol of an entire generation of bodybuilders. His determination helped to make the sport respectable in the United States, and Mickey also became a celebrity, one of the “beautiful people” of the Southern California crowd. Hargitay was born in 1926, into a poor family in the […]

by · August 30, 2015 · Culture
László Kövér is hiding his Communist past.

Ex-Communist László Kövér has no business dedicating Catholic chapel

The August 29th dedication of the new Chapel (Magyarok Nagyasszonya kápolna) at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC will start with a Solemn Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wuerl of Washington and Cardinal Erdő of Esztergom-Budapest. Readings and choral pieces will be both in English and in Hungarian. This could be a wonderful religious […]

by · August 22, 2015 · Politics
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Ex-Communist admirer of fascists László Kövér to dedicate Catholic Chapel in Washington DC

László Kövér is 55 years old. He is the Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly and also a founding member of the ruling Fidesz party. He started his remarkable political career as a junior “apparatchik” of the Hungarian Communist Politburo in 1986. Born into a Communist family, he earned a law degree, and his contacts propelled him into a job […]

by · August 17, 2015 · Politics
Oakland Symphony Chorus performs at Matthias Church.

California choir performs at Budapest’s Matthias Church

Each year we spend a couple of weeks in Hungary. Generally we go in May to beat the heavy tourist crowds and the unbearable heat of the summer in the city. Just before we left, a friend called and told us that he was coming to Hungary to sing with his choir. Since we would be in Budapest he invited […]

by · August 15, 2015 · Culture
Marian Kotleba supports Prime Minister Orbán.

Slovak neo-Nazi Marian Kotleba supports Orbán’s “brave steps” on immigration

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has a new admirer just north of the border in Slovakia. The regional governor of Banska Bystrica (Besztercebánya in Hungarian) Marian Kotleba, sent an open letter to Mr. Orbán on July 28th expressing his support for Orbán’s “brave and effective steps aimed at saving European countries from an inundation of immigrants.” “I express full support […]

by · August 10, 2015 · East