In 1913, the 7th Congress of the International Women’s Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) met in Budapest. The aim of the convention was to raise public awareness of women’s issues in Hungary. In particular, the alliance wanted to work with city council to establish a women’s aid office as well as day care centers. Here’s a look [...]
Christmas is celebrated in many different ways throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Commonly most of the regions’ festivities begin with the period of Advent which is four weeks prior to Christmas and the feast of Saint Nicholas on the 6th of December. Although the celebration of the season is shared, each country has developed their [...]
Flórián Albert, Hungary’s Ballon d’Or prize-winning football player, died on Monday at the age of 70 after complications following heart surgery, his club Ferencváros said on its website. Albert played 537 matches for Ferencváros, scoring 383 goals and winning four Hungarian championships. He also played 75 times for Hungary, tallying 31 goals. He took part in the 1962 and 1966 World [...]
Google, the most popular search engine, honored the life of Albert von Szent-Györgyi de Nagyrápolt on his 118th birthday anniversary today with a doodle on its hompage. Szent-Györgyi is credited with discovering vitamin C and the components and reactions of the citric acid cycle. Born in Budapest on September 16, 1893, Szent-Györgyi’s family included three [...]
This past weekend, Rubin Art, held a special event in Toronto to celebrate Herend’s 160 anniversary of its Victoria collection. Founded in 1826 in a small town in western Hungary, Herend is a leading producer of luxury hand painted and gilded porcelain. It’s most well-known collection is the Victoria pattern named after Queen Victoria who purchased the original set in 1851 at the [...]
Almost every country has legend or tale that involves a dragon. Whether its a courageous knight set out to defeat it as told by the well-known British legend in Saint George and the Dragon, or how it comes to bring good luck to a village as mentioned in several Chinese folklore’s, humans for centuries have always been fascinated by dragons. In Poland, there is [...]
It was John von Neumann who jokingly suggested that Hungary was a front for aliens from Mars. (This is analogous to Enrico Fermi’s answer to the question whether extraterrestrial beings exist: “Of course, they are already here among us: they just call themselves Hungarians.”) The famous quote was attributed to “The Martians” who were a [...]
What is Pysanky? Pysanky (pysanky-plural, pysanka-singular) are Ukrainian Easter eggs, decorated using a wax-resist (batik) method. The word comes from the verb pysaty, “to write”, as the designs are not painted on, but written with beeswax. The art form of producing elaborately-decorated eggs is also common through Central and Eastern Europe. Pysanky are traditionally made [...]
Tis the season for gingerbread…. or is it? Strangely, gingerbread didn’t just begin as a sweet treat for the Christmas season but was actually an important element for many cultures in Central and Eastern Europe. Here’s a brief look at the history of gingerbread baking in the region. Origin of the Gingerbread Gingerbread has [...]
Did you know the custom of decorating a Christmas tree originated in Germany? Although, neither an inventor nor a single town can be identified as the sole origin for the tradition but it’s believed the custom began in 16th century Germany. One legend tells how Martin Luther, a 16th-century Protestant reformer first added candles to [...]
