The following is the English translation of a press release kindly provided to us by Highlights of Hungary.
Highlights of Hungary announced the 25 Hungarian achievements deemed outstanding in the 2025 season on Thursday, 11 September. The finalists for the award, which recognizes extraordinary Hungarian talent, perseverance, and creativity without categories, were selected by such Hungarian role models as actor Márk Ember, Olympic swimmer Boglárka Kapás, TV presenter Marcsi Borbás, pediatric surgeon Dr Róbert Kőnig, and baker Szabolcs Szabadfi.
Anyone Can Be an Excellent Role Model
The aim of the non-profit initiative behind the social award, which has been given out annually since 2014, is to recognize and give a wider platform to Hungarian talents and projects that can serve as examples for all of us. What makes the award special is that, in addition to the ‘usual’ role models (athletes, artists, entrepreneurs), it also draws attention to value-creating stories such as certain university courses, sustainability solutions, unique forms of tradition preservation, nutritional science, and equal opportunity initiatives.
Here is what the Highlights of Hungary 2025 Ambassadors had to say:
Marcsi Borbás: ‘My goal in selecting the award winners was to shine a spotlight on inventions, people, and communities that go above and beyond in their work. They collect, record and archive values that provide a foothold for others, whether in terms of traditions or on a human, physical or spiritual level.’
Márk Ember: ‘I believe that our generation must decide what it wants to seize: the present moment or something eternal. To create value that is not only interesting and valuable today, but also in the long term. I always strive to keep this in mind. This was a very important consideration when selecting my award winners.’
Boglárka Kapás: ‘I believe that a professional athlete must always possess the qualities of perseverance, humility, and courage. My goal is to find these values in my candidates and to find candidates who set a good example for society.’
Dr Róbert Kőnig: ‘My goal as ambassador was to find and present candidates who represent the world according to a specific set of values. In addition, they are persistent, hard-working, and can demonstrate things of value.’
Szabolcs Szabadfi: ‘The core values that define my line of work are perseverance, loyalty, and love. I focused on many things during the selection process, and I also made sure not to choose only from my own field.’
Highlights of Hungary 2025: Role Models for All of Us
This year, anyone could nominate the most inspiring achievement on the Highlights of Hungary website. From more than 1,000 nominations received, the ambassadors selected the 25 ambassadorial award winners, whom we can now get to know and from whom we can choose the social award winners. Thanks to the diverse, annually changing team of ambassadors, a wide variety of Hungarian stories have been brought into the spotlight this season.
The list of this year’s nominees is:
- ArchiGreen Zöldtető Llc. — developer of green roofing systems
- The Book of the Coming of the Grape — a 275-year-old traditional publication from Kőszeg
- Baltazár Theatre — a theatre company made up of actors with intellectual disablilites
- János Bán (Mór Bán) — author
- Bibo and Cleaneco — a company producing and distributing environmentally friendly and organic products
- Andrea Bojti — child psychologist
- The Csoroszlya Farm — bio farm and mill
- Debrecen Dog House Animal Shelter — animal welfare organization
- Róbert Jankó — nutritional science researcher
- Ottó Kalányos — Catholic priest, providing pastoral care for Romas in Transylvania
- Tibor Kapu — Hungarian astronaut
- Dávid Losonczi — European and World Champion wrestler
- Hungarian Dance University — higher educational institution
- Norbert Michelisz — World Champion racecar driver
- What Should We Play? Vlog — board game developers, masters, content creators
- Dr Gyula J Obádovics — university lecturer of mathematics and IT, senior athlete
- House of Eternity — a community project taking care of infants left alone at hospitals
- Ferenc Porkoláb — folk applied artist
- Balázs Szabó — frontman of the Szabó Balázs Band, singer and songwriter
- Széchenyi István University Motorsport MSc — motorsport engineering training
- Dr Ádám Takács — particle physicist
- Nikolett Tóth — dancer, ballet master
- Csaba Varga — architect, mountaineer
- WALISE - Water & Life Services – water quality monitoring and control system and service
- Prof Dr Péter Zombola – composer, music teacher
The general public will have the opportunity to vote for the nominees online between October 1 and 24 at www.tarsadalmidij.hu.
The awards ceremony will take place on 30 October, where the three nominees with the most votes will receive the social award, a trophy that is a work of applied art, along with the monetary prize of 3 million HUF. However, it is important to note that Highlights of Hungary does not have just three winners, as the aim of the initiative is not to compete, but to give exposure and a spotlight to all those who set an example with their perseverance, talent, and determination.
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