Hungarian Conservative

Professor Puskás is a highly accomplished researcher, engineer and university professor living in the United States, who is still active in her field of chemical engineering. She has not only excelled professionally, but has also been an active member of the Hungarian Diaspora in America.

An in-depth interview with pianist and choir director Zsuzsánna Balla, who has lived in the United States for more than twenty years, and yet she and her family have preserved and continue to foster their Hungarian heritage, and are active and enthusiastic members of the Hungarian American community.

An in-depth interview with Eva Kazella, a prominent member of the Hungarian American community, about the deportation of her family from Communist Slovakia, the vicissitudes before starting a new life in the United States, her family, and the vibrant community life of Hungarian Americans.

The staging of the musical version of one of the most popular young adult fiction works ever written in Hungarian, titled Be Faithful Unto Death, was a major undertaking and a dream come true for the initiator of the project, Bernadett Csizmadia. The show was performed on the 50th anniversary celebration of the Széchenyi Hungarian School and Kindergarten of New Brunswick, NJ.

‘The more I travelled in America, the more I realized that there is no state in the U.S. where Hungarians have not created something lasting; where there is not some Hungarian thread, some Hungarian history, some Hungarian contribution. We wanted to visualize this centuries-old creative process and make it easily accessible to the widest possible audience. That’s how the idea of the HuGo app was born, and of course it took years to fine-tune the concept with our developers arriving at the publicly available version we have today.’ Anna Smith Lacey on the HuGo app and the power of the community.

‘Many people have asked me why I don’t devote my time to myself and my family instead of volunteering. The answer is simple: I care about Hungarian families and the community. My mission is to preserve, nurture and pass on our Hungarian identity, our rich language and culture to the next generation. Fortunately, many of us feel the same way and many of us are working for the same goals.’

At an online conference titled Cooperation under the Palm Trees held on 9 February the invited panellists represented various Florida-based Hungarian organizations. Participants from eight countries all over the world were able to gain insight into the exemplary cooperation of Hungarians in Florida.

The book is extremely valuable in many aspects, for instance because it sheds light on the complex structure of the Hungarian immigrant society as well as of those of the Hungarian minorities in Transylvania and Vojvodina, and historical episodes less known to readers in the Hungarian homeland, thus providing valuable insights for those involved in diaspora studies, not only for interested non-professional readers.

Building community and connection, keeping the memory of 1956 alive, engaging the next generation of Hungarian Americans, advocating for the interests of the Hungarian ethnic communities in Europe and building bridges between Washington and Budapest: this is the mission that Andrea Rice Lauer and HACUSA tirelessly pursue.