Culture

The need for immigrants – Pál Demény about the shrinking Hungarian population

The need for immigrants – Pál Demény about the shrinking Hungarian population

Hungary Today recently published an interesting interview with Pál Demény, a demographer who is researching population trends. The 85-year-old Demény left Hungary in 1956, lived in the US and now has decided to retire to Budapest. (Read here.) He was born in Nyíregyháza, went to university in Budapest and in 1961 received a PhD in Economics from Princeton. Demény has […]

by · March 5, 2018 · Culture
Old Buena Vista Winery covered with ivy.

Firefighters saved California’s historic Haraszthy Winery in last year’s wildfire

Northern California is slowly rebuilding after last November’s deadly wildfires and according to experts it could take years to recover. The fires destroyed 9,000 structures and killed about 50 people. The fire hit the picturesque wine region of California where several dozen wineries were damaged or destroyed. I was relieved to learn that the oldest winery of the area, the […]

by · February 27, 2018 · Culture
The Liu brothers with their family at Budapest Airport.

Ethnic homogeneity and the Liu brothers

In the last few years Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary has talked about how Europe is being overrun by people from Asia and Africa and of the importance of “ethnic homogeneity.” Mr. Orbán says that Hungary is for Hungarians; the country doesn’t need foreigners or immigrants. According to him “Christianity is Europe’s last hope” and Hungary is the bastion […]

by · February 24, 2018 · Culture
Photo: Országos Roma Önkormányzat.

The growth of Hungary’s Roma minority — A fascinating new study

Hungary’s Roma minority has doubled in size over 25 years, according to a study conducted by researchers at Debrecen University for an academic journal entitled Területi Statisztika. What makes this study truly compelling is its unique methodology. Numbers compiled during the national census routinely underestimate the size of Hungary’s Roma community–the country’s largest minority group–as respondents often choose not to […]

by · February 23, 2018 · Culture
Hungary's team wins gold at the Winter Olympics. Photo: MTI / Zsolt Czeglédi.

Chinese-Hungarian brothers win gold for Hungary at Winter Olympics

For the first time since 1980, Hungary has won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics, thanks to the performance of a four-man team in short track speed skating in Gangneung, South Korea. The team set an Olympic record of 6 minutes 31.971 seconds in the men’s 5,000 metre relay and its members included Viktor Knoch and Csaba Burján, as well as […]

by · February 22, 2018 · Culture
Tarantino wearing the Cross with Hungarian film representative Béla Bunyik and his wife Bonnie.

Quentin Tarantino’s troubles and his Hungarian Knight’s Cross

The film director, Quentin Tarantino is in trouble. He is accused of negligence by actress Uma Thurman, who says that he bullied her into driving an unsafe car that crashed in the set of Bill Kill. She also says that he spit in her face and choked her with a chain. It is also alleged that he tried to strangle […]

by · February 20, 2018 · Culture
Scene from the all-white cast Porgy and Bess

Was Gershwin being racist when he insisted on an all-black cast for Porgy and Bess?

Hungarian State Opera director Szilveszter Ókovács thinks that George Gershwin’s all-black cast requirement today is racist. Porgy and Bess was first staged on Broadway in 1935; the music was composed by George Gershwin and the libretto was written by his brother Ira Gershwin in collaboration with DuBose Heyward, who wrote the original story. The authors prescribed an all-black cast for […]

by · February 1, 2018 · Culture
January 22 – National Day of Hungarian Culture

January 22 – National Day of Hungarian Culture

On 22 January 1823 the great poet Ferenc Kölcsey completed the text of the Hungarian National Anthem. Since 1989 this date is celebrated as the National Day of Hungarian Culture and the history of the National Anthem is an example of the country’s diversity. The official music for the anthem was composed by Ferenc Erkel as part of a competition […]

by · January 23, 2018 · Culture
Hungarian march in the party district with a banner that reads: "Enough. Silence." Photo: Népszava.

A referendum will decide the fate of Budapest’s party district

Inner city Budapest, specifically the area that during World War II served as the Budapest ghetto for as many as 70,000 Hungarian Jews, is today party central for scores of British men on stag weekends and other western European millennials who take discount flights to the Hungarian capital, in search of a cheap getaway. The area attracts some 150,000 to […]

by · January 2, 2018 · Culture
A peaceful Christmas

A peaceful Christmas

Hungarians often wish each other a peaceful Christmas (“békés Karácsonyt”) and in a country with a tragic history that is still within living memory, this is an apt greeting. This is especially true if we recognize that there can only be true peace where there is justice or, more precisely, in societies that strive to be just towards those who […]

by · December 25, 2017 · Culture