News Archives - Hungarian Presence in Canada

News and Events

Coach Lenke Szathmary dies at 92

April 12th 2013

The Canadian women’s gymnastics world has lost one of its pioneers. Lenke Szathmary (Legany) has died at the age of 92. She was for many years the gymnastics coach at St. Catharines Collegiate.

Born in Hungary, Lenke Szathmary, survived the challenges of what turned out to be a 6-year sojourn in a German DP camp before she was able to emigrate to Canada in 1951. She made Welland her home. After working on a farm and then in a factory on a sewing machine, Szathmary eventually managed to have her Hungarian credentials recognized.

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"New Lives” – an exhibition of 50 portraits of Hungarian Canadians by V. Tony Hauser commissioned by the National Arts Centre of Canada

We are pleased to present once again on our site “New Lives,” a special exhibit created by the National Arts Centre of Canada (NAC) in 2006 to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of about 38,000 Hungarian refugees to Canada in 1956-57. The NAC, which played a leading role in the National Capital Region in organizing celebrations for the anniversary, commissioned 50 portraits of Hungarian Canadians from diverse fields of endeavour by renowned Canadian portrait photographer V. Tony Hauser. The exhibition of the portraits, with accompanying texts written by the 50 individuals, was presented with historical panels prepared by the Library and Archives Canada (LAC), and was opened on October 4th 2006 at the NAC as the first in a series of commemorative events. The opening included a recital by Canadian pianist Mary Kenedi in front of an audience that included several of the portrait sitters. The exhibition travelled to a number of locations in 2006-7 both in Canada and abroad (including Hungary) and forms part of the permanent collection of LAC. It has also been on display at the new Canadian Immigration Museum at Pier 21 in Halifax.

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Fragile But Important Links

January 12, 2013

Kevin Burns

Eszter Szenci arrived in Canada to see first-hand a culture she had only read about in books back home in Hungary. She was one of 32 European graduate students who took part in the 2012 Thinking Canada study tour of Canada.

Thinking Canada is an initiative of the European Commission and Canada, jointly funded for the last several years by the EU and by Canada’s Foreign Affairs and Human Resource and Social Development departments.

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Tamàs Dobozy wins the 2012 Rogers Writers Trust Award

November 14 2012

Photo courtesy of Thomas Allen Publishing

Kevin Burns

After winning this year’s Rogers Writers’ Trust award for fiction, Tamàs Dobozy was declared in the press “a surprise favourite” to also win the Governor General’s Literary Award for his book: Siege 13. This is his fictional exploration of the Red Army’s siege of Budapest in December 1944, in the closing stages of the Second World War. Through thirteen interlinked stories Dobozy addresses the complex legacy of the siege decades later, not only in Hungary but also in Europe and Canada.

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World Refugee Day 2012: An honour at a difficult time

June 15th 2012

Kevin Burns

June 20th is the day designated by the UN as World Refugee Day. We wish to acknowledge the work of one person this year who has been recognized for her service to Roma refugees in Canada: this is Gina Csanyi-Robah, Executive Director of the Roma Community Centre in Toronto. Look out for a more in depth article on Gina soon.

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Canadian documentary on Roma: Never Come Back!

April 16th 2012

Kevin Burns

The film’s title is a warning. It’s advice given by a Roma in Hungary to his fellow Roma in Canada who are waiting to hear about their refugee claims. If they are forced to return to Hungary, he warns, they will certainly encounter discrimination and even run the risk of violence from extremists because of their identity.

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Picking up the threads: Anna Torma’s Bagatelles

March 14th 2012

Kevin Burns

The visual artist Anna Torma uses the word Bagatelle in inverted commas because she says she has borrowed the word from the world of music. “It’s usually used to describe small things, not a full symphony.” An exhibition featuring her work, titled “Bagatelles” has been on display since fall, 2011 at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John.

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A Fiery Soul – The Life and Theatrical Times of John Hirsch

January 30, 2012

Cover for: A Fiery Soul – The Life and Theatrical Time of John Hirsch Reviewed by Kevin Burns

Just before the table of contents, an actor explains the pervasive influence on contemporary theatre of the Hungarian-born, Canadian theatre innovator, John Hirsch. “During the 1980s, North American actors had to bring three things to any audition: a classical piece, a contemporary piece, and a John Hirsch story.”

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Making Sense of Federal Provincial Relations

An interview with Robert Csehi, PhD student from Hungary, participant in the “Thinking Canada” tour 2011, and the first intern supported by a grant from the Canada-Hungary Educational Foundation through its partnership project with the European Association for Canadian Studies and the European Commission.

December 9th 2011

Kevin Burns

“From a European perspective, Canada’s approach to federalism is certainly not a traditional one,” says Robert Csehi, a confident and impressive doctoral student from Budapest’s Central European University, an institution founded by George Soros. Read more...

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Coaching award for Tamas Buday

November 19th 2011

Tamas Buday being honoured On November 11th 2011 Canoe-Kayak coach Tamas Buday Sr was honoured (among other top Canadian coaches) by the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) with the Petro Canada Coaching Excellence Award.

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Governor General on Citizenship Week 2011

Governor General David Johnston His Excellency, the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, has made public a message on the occasion of Canadian Citizenship Week (October 17-21); a week during which Canadians are encouraged to reflect on the “unity through diversity” of our society and the enrichment we enjoy through multiculturalism. His Excellency comments on the values inherent in our openness to immigrants and refugees who often flee injustice or simply want to start a new life but in either case come to Canada in pursuit of their dreams and help weave the fabric of our harmonious Canadian family.

The Canada-Hungary Educational Foundation promotes these same values and is therefore sharing His Excellency’s message on this website HERE...

or

Read the message on the Governor General’s website:

English: http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14268&lan=eng

Français: http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14268&lan=fra

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Hungarian Movies at the World Film Festival, Montreal

August 14th, 2011

Maiden Danced to Death Magyar Filmunió (The Hungarian Film Union), Hungary’s film promotion office, has informed us that the
35th Montreal World Film Festival (18-28 August) will premiere two Hungarian feature films.

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Tamás Érdi
How music flows from his head via his heart to the tips of his fingers

April 5, 2011

Kevin Burns

Tamas Erdi To be a successful concert artist is a major achievement. To accomplish this without being able to see shows what can happens when artistic giftedness, gutsy determination, and innovative teaching methods combine. The Budapest-born pianist, Tamás Érdi, now in this 30s, is a truly gifted musician with a flourishing international career behind him and ahead of him. He is not celebrated sympathetically as a blind musician, rather he is a successful classical musician who has found his own unique way to work around a debilitating challenge: blindness. His vision loss has not prevented him from playing concerts and recitals in Hungary, Canada - which he describes as his second home - and the United States. Read more...

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Refugee Rights Day, April 4, 2011

April 3, 2011

Kevin Burns

Honouring Refugee Rights Day

It’s impossible to address the story of the Hungarian community in Canada without encountering that highly charged word: Refugee. Although it certainly does not define the Canadian-Hungarian experience, it certainly captures a fundamental piece of the story and the responses to those life-threatening events of 1956.

On April 4, 2011, Canada celebrates Refugee Rights Day with a series of events across the country. This is no arbitrary date. April 4 was selected because it was the day in 1985 that the Supreme Court of Canada delivered one of its truly “landmark” decisions concerning the status of refugees. On April 4, 1985, the court delivered its ruling on the Singh case, dealing with a challenge to a decision by the then Minister of Immigration and Refugee Status Advisory Committee. Read more...

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Tibor Egervari’s latest theatrical exploration of how anti-Semitism starts, what it does, and how it works

March 8, 2011

Kevin Burns

Audiences at the latest production of the University of Ottawa’s theatre department are in for a bit of surprise. Just before the house lights dim they will be told to turn their smart phones on and to unwrap as many noisy candies as they wish during the production they are about to see. This is no mere gimmick. During Tibor Egervari’s production of Christopher Marlowe’s deeply problematic play, The Jew of Malta, audience members are actively encouraged to tweet their observation and reactions to the play. As scene upon scene of bloody betrayal mounts up, their tweets will be flashed onto a large screen built into the set for all the audience to see. Why? “For too long the theatre has been all about control,” explains Egervari during a break in rehearsals. Using facebook in this way in a live theatre performance is also a first in Canada, he suggests. Read more...

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Canada’s Alexander Seredenko and Hungary’s Adam Banda are pioneers in a new musical “exchange” program

March 8, 2011

Kevin Burns

Canada’s Alexander Seredenko and Hungary’s Adam Banda are pioneers in a new musical “exchange” program organized by Andrea Fellner and János Vecsernyés

Franz Liszt once described the role of the artist as “the bearer of the beautiful.” There’s a new exchange initiative designed to bring a new generation of “bearers of the beautiful” from Hungary to Canada, and from Canada to Hungary. This initiative involves young and highly talented musicians.

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Multiculturalism 40 years on, April 16th 2011

February 25th 2011

CERIS A graduate student conference entitled “Finding Meaning in Multiculturalism 40 Years Later” is taking place on April 16th 2011 at Ryerson University and has issued a call for papers. Using the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the introduction of Canada’s Multiculturalism Policy, the conference offers graduate students interested in multiculturalism and migration the opportunity to present and discuss their research. The conference’s goal is to have comprehensive and interdisciplinary discussion of contemporary Canadian and international migration around such issues as: Immigrants and Security, Politics and Policies of Migration, Mobility in a Global Context, Racialization and Poverty, Race and Multiculturalism, Immigration and Labour Markets, and others. Deadline for submission of proposals is March 8th 2011.

For more information visit http://ceris.metropolis.net

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Working Things out with Music

Kati Agócs and Winnipeg’s New Music Festival

February 7, 2011

Kevin Burns

Kati Agócs found herself sandwiched between Kelly-Marie Murphy’s evocation of hundreds of starlings in flight and Krzysztof Penderecki’s thunderous choral celebration of Jerusalem. The event was the closing night concert of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival. For twenty years this festival has showcased the work of living Canadian and international composers during what is typically the coldest week of a Winnipeg winter.

Kati Agocs For seven nights, composers come on stage and explain to audiences about what they will hear. Kati Agócs told her audience that during ...like treasure hidden in a field, her piece for orchestra, “You’re going to hear some bells.” And the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s percussionist certainly delivered.

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Hungarian Film Week and photo exhibit in Montreal Feb 25 - March 3rd 2011

February 14th 2011

Click on image for PDF

An exciting week of Hungarian film and photography is taking place at the Cinema du Parc in Montreal with the vernissage for both at 5 pm on February 25th 2011. The event is being organized by members of the Canadian Hungarian Artists’ Collective (CHAC) and curated by filmmaker Tamas Wormser.

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Programs for Canadians at Corvinus University, Budapest

January 2, 2011

Corvinus University Budapest is once again offering a number of programs of interest to Canadian (and international) students as well as professors. Corvinus U (formerly the Budapest University of Economics and Technology) is one of Europe’s top economics universities and has an increasing number of courses in English for international students. Those interested may also be eligible for scholarships from the Hungarian government. Read more...

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