TOP 5 most famous Hungarian women with achievements that conquered the world

Let’s see which Hungarian women left their mark on the world, putting them on the list with the most outstanding achievements and making them eternal role models.

Ágnes Keleti

Ágnes Keleti is the oldest living Olympic champion and medalist who celebrated her 100th birthday in January 2021. While representing Hungary at the Summer Olympics, she won 10 Olympic medals, including five gold medals, three silver medals, and two bronze medals. With these achievements, she is the most successful competitor in Hungarian gymnastics and the winner of 46 Hungarian championships, also a seven-time team champion, reported Wikipédia.

Katinka Hosszú

It is no coincidence that the three-time Olympic, nine-time world, and fourteen-time European Champion female swimmer, Katinka Hosszú, goes by the nickname ‘Iron Lady’. Her superhuman achievements have made Hungarians proud on numerous occasions, gaining her global recognition. She is the first athlete to hold the world record in all five swimming styles at the same time.

This puts her at the top of the international list of women’s record-holding swimmers.

She has ninety-six medals: 64 gold, 20 silver, and 12 bronze.

Katalin Karikó

Katalin Karikó played a key role in the development of the mRNA-based Pfizer-BioNTech Covid19 vaccine. The Hungarian female biologist and researcher studied at the University of Szeged. In 1978, she was awarded a fellowship by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences to work at the Biological Research Centre of Szeged. In 1985, however, she was dismissed due to downsizing, at which time she decided to move to the United States with her family to continue her career, reported Hirado.hu.

Besides having received numerous awards in Hungary (Széchenyi Prize, Semmelweis Prize, Honorary Citizen of Szeged, etc.), Katalin Karikó has gained several international acknowledgements as well. A wall painting of her can be found at the University of Technology in Valencia. This monument reflects the epoch-making achievements of women scientists. In addition to Valencia, Oviedo also brought to life a memorable scientific recognition in October this year when Katalin Karikó was moved to tears when she received the Princess of Asturias Prize (Premios Princesa de Asturias), often referred to as the Spanish Nobel Prize.

Read also: Hungarian biochemist Katalin Karikó receives Austrian lifetime achievement

Zsuzsanna Kossuth

Zsuzsanna Kossuth was the world’s first military nurse who organised the first military hospitals during the 1848-49 War of Independence. She initiated the establishment of 72 new field hospitals and not only managed but also cared for the sick.

The Hungarian lady was the first to call the world’s attention to the duty of caring for wounded soldiers

and was highly respected in the United States of America during her lifetime. Zsuzsanna Kossuth’s patriotism, moral uprightness, selflessness, and humanity can serve as an example for today’s age.

Lili Kronberger

Lili Kronberger was the first female competitor in national and international figure skating. She became Hungary’s first World Champion in 1908, at the World Championships in Troppau, Silesia, where she won the first gold medal in Hungarian sports history. Thanks to her husband, Imre Szentgyörgyi, she was the first skater in the world to present an artistic programme with musical accompaniment at the World Championships in Vienna.

+1 Sisi, Queen of the Hungarians

Duchess Elisabeth, nicknamed Sisi, married the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph I, in 1854. This marriage brought the poorly brought-up princess into the much more rigid etiquette of Viennese court life. Elisabeth often spent time in Hungary, developing close ties with the Hungarian people. The lookout tower in Normafa Park is named after her as she visited the mountain in 1882. Allegedly, she played a significant role in the Austro-Hungarian reconciliation of 1867.

Going back in time, we must mention:

• Saint Margaret of the House of Árpád who became the patron saint of Budapest. Her parents offered her to God as a gift for Hungary. She spent her whole life in prayer and devotion to God.
• Ilona Zrínyi, who is also known as Europe’s bravest woman. She was the mother of Transylvanian Prince Ferenc Rákóczi II and defended the castle of Mukachevo for more than two years against the attacks of the imperial troops.

• Mária Lebstück was the first female who received rank in the army of the War of Independence. She dressed in a man’s uniform and fought for Hungarian freedom as a military officer.

• Margit Slachta was the first Hungarian female Member of Parliament. She dedicated her life to helping those in need as a politician and a monk.
• Vilma Hugonnai was the first Hungarian female doctor. She acquired her basic knowledge at home and later as a boarding school student in Budapest. At the time, no woman in Hungary was allowed to progress beyond this level.

• Lili Steinschneider was the first Hungarian pilot trainer. She was so impressed by the international air race in Budapest in the summer of 1910 that she decided to become a pilot.

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Source: hirado.hu