Nobel Prize-winning author László Krasznahorkai named Honorary Citizen of Szeged

News

May 26

László Krasznahorkai was named an Honorary Citizen of Szeged last Friday during the city’s annual ceremonial assembly marking the Day of Szeged celebrations.

Mayor László Botka praised Krasznahorkai as “a thoroughly European writer” and an independent creative voice, noting that the author began his university studies in Szeged as a law student.

Botka said one of Krasznahorkai’s earliest publications appeared in Szeged in 1973 and highlighted the writer’s long-standing literary and intellectual ties to the city.

“Krasznahorkai’s body of work has become part of world literature,” the mayor said, adding that the author received last year’s Nobel Prize in Literature for what he described as visionary works.

Botka said residents of Szeged remain proud that the beginning of Krasznahorkai’s career is connected to the southern Hungarian city.

During his address, the mayor also reflected on the city’s history and recent political developments. He noted that Szeged regained its freedoms in 1719, when residents “took their future into their own hands,” and described the city as a historical stronghold of freedom during major turning points in Hungarian history, including 1848, 1956, 1989 and April 12, 2026.

Referring to Hungary’s parliamentary election held earlier this year, Botka said April 12 marked the end of a 16-year political era and the beginning of a new one. He added that voters in Szeged supported “a new, Hungarian, free, European republic” in the highest proportion nationwide.

The mayor said the election result represents both an opportunity and a responsibility, emphasizing that cooperation will be essential in the coming years.

“Szeged is ready to take an active and initiating role in every cooperation that serves the city’s continued development and Hungary’s strengthening within Europe,” Botka said.

He added that “being Hungarian and being European are not an impossible union.”

At the event, the city’s Pro Urbe Award was presented to legal historian and university professor Mária Homoki-Nagy and architect Csongor Török.

The Szeged Memorial Medal was awarded to retired kindergarten director Erzsébet Bugyiné Tábit, environmental initiative organizer András Farkas and trade union leader Gábor Radics.