Hungarian Ohioans are

Hungarian American Hungarian Americans ( Hungarian: ''amerikai magyarok'') are Americans of Hungarian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that there are approximately 1.396 million Americans of Hungarian descent as of 2018. The total number of people wit ...

s living in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Their number was 203,417 in 2010 and 183,593 in 2014.

Fairport Harbor, Ohio Fairport Harbor is a village in Lake County, Ohio, United States, along Lake Erie at the mouth of the Grand River. The population was 3,109 at the 2010 census. Fairport Harbor is home to two lighthouses: the Fairport Harbor West Breakwater Li ...

is 11.8% Hungarian American. In

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and its neighboring areas there live more than 107,000 Hungarians, of which over 7,400 speak the language, the third highest number in the nation. Some resources stated that there was time when Cleveland was the second greatest Hungarian settlement outside

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. Most of the Hungarians live in

Cuyahoga County, Ohio Cuyahoga County ( or ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the Canada–United States border, U.S.-Canada maritime border. As of the 2020 U ...

, where they make up 3.1% of the total population. There is also a large colony of Hungarians in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

. Two former local representatives reside in Toledo: Peter Ujvagi and

Matt Szollosi Matthew A. "Matt" Szollosi (; born June 4, 1972) is a former Democratic member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing Toledo and Lucas County. As of 2022, he is executive director of Affiliated Construction Trades Ohio, an organiz ...

. In Toledo one can find the famous

Tony Packo's Cafe Tony Packo's Cafe is a restaurant that started in the Hungarian neighborhood of Birmingham, on the east side of Toledo, Ohio, at 1902 Front Street. Starting in 1932, the restaurant became famous when it was mentioned in several ''M*A*S*H'' episod ...

. There is a part of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

, which is called Hungarian Village.

History

During the 19th and the 20th century a lot of Hungarian people immigrated to the United States, and one of the final destinations was Ohio. In 1900, there were about 17,000 Hungarians in Ohio. By 1920 their number grew to 73,181. Although they arrived before the First World War, there were still two large waves of Hungarian immigration: after the Second World War and after the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

. In more recent decades, the Hungarian communities started melting and moving to other places in Ohio, but their presence is still significant.

Hungarians in Cleveland

Most of the Hungarian immigrants settled down on the coastline of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

and in

, particularly along Buckeye Road, a neighborhood once nicknamed Little Hungary, which at one time boasted the largest population of Hungarians outside Budapest. At the end of the 19th century there already were six Hungarian communities in Cleveland which organized their own churches. In 1900 precisely 9,558 Hungarian lived in Cleveland, which meant the 8% of the non-aboriginal population of the city. By 1920 their number grew to 43,134 (18% of the non-aboriginal population). Theodor Kuntz, who arrived in 1873, founded a factory where 2,500 Hungarians worked. Soon he became one of the wealthiest men in Cleveland. In 1890 he raised a ''Hungaria Hall'' on Clark Avenue. The building is still standing as of 2010. In 1920, there were more than 300 Hungarian-owned factories and 81 associations in Cleveland. Between 1947 and 1953, 6,000 Hungarians settled in the city; the earlier Hungarians immigrants helped them to assimilate. In the 1980s there were 113,000 Hungarians in Cleveland, but by 1990 the number fell to 61,681. At that time 924 Hungarian organizations were present in Cleveland.

Notable people

* Rich Badar - American football player * Harold Balazs - sculptor *

Zoltán Tibor Balogh Zoltán "Zoli" Tibor Balogh (December 7, 1953 – June 19, 2002) was a Hungarian-born mathematician, specializing in set-theoretic topology. His father, Tibor Balogh, was also a mathematician. His best-known work concerned solutions to problems ...

- mathematician *

Jim Bede James R. Bede (April 17, 1933 – July 9, 2015) was an American aircraft designer. He designed well over a dozen aircraft starting in the 1960s, but a string of business failures kept most of these designs out of widespread use. Bede Avia ...

- aircraft designer * Steven Boyer - actor *

George Buza George Buza is an American-born Canadian actor who is best known for voicing Beast in the '' X-Men Animated Series''. Personal life Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he moved to Toronto, Ontario, as a young man and became a Canadian citizen in 1998. C ...

- actor * Jesse Csincsak - snowboarder *

Larry Csonka Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Mem ...

- American football player *

Joe Eszterhas József A. Eszterhás ( born November 23, 1944) is a Hungarian-American writer. He attended Ohio University. He wrote the screenplays for the films ''Flashdance'', '' Jagged Edge'', ''Basic Instinct'' and ''Showgirls''. His books include ''Americ ...

- screenwriter *

Andy Farkas Andrew Geza Farkas (May 2, 1916 – April 10, 2001) was an American football fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and the Detroit Lions. Early life Farkas was born in Clay Center, Ohio of Hungarian origins ...

- American football player *

Elmer Gedeon Elmer John Gedeon (April 15, 1917 – April 20, 1944) was an American professional baseball player, appearing in several games for the Washington Senators in . Gedeon and Harry O'Neill were the only two Major League Baseball players killed duri ...

- American baseball player *

Lou Groza Louis Roy Groza (January 25, 1924 – November 29, 2000), nicknamed "the Toe", was an American professional football player who was a placekicker and offensive tackle while playing his entire career for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America F ...

- American football player *

Julie Hamos Julie Hamos (born January 29, 1949) is a former Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 18th District from 1999 to 2010. Her district included Rogers Park, Chicago, Rogers Par ...

- Illinois representative *

Les Horvath Leslie Horvath (October 12, 1921 – November 14, 1995) was an American football quarterback and halfback who won the Heisman Trophy while playing for Ohio State University in 1944. Horvath was the first Ohio State player to win the Heisman, an ...

- American football player *

Robert Ivany Robert Rudolph Ivany (born February 4, 1947) is a retired major general in the United States Army, and was the eighth president of the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Military career Born in Austria to Hungarian war refugees, Ivany attended ...

- president of the University of St. Thomas in Houston *

Chris Jansing Christine Ann Kapostasy-Jansing (born January 30, 1957) is an American television journalist. She anchors ''Chris Jansing Reports'' airing from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET weekdays on MSNBC, having replaced ''MTP Daily'' in May 2022. Jans ...

(born Christine Kapostasy) - news correspondent *

Oszkár Jászi Oszkár Jászi (born Oszkár Jakobuvits; 2 March 1875 – 13 February 1957), also known in English as Oscar Jászi, was a Hungarian social scientist, historian, and politician. Early life Oszkár Jászi was born in Nagykároly on March 2, 1875 ...

- university teacher *

Iggy Katona Egnatius "Iggy" Katona (August 16, 1916 – December 4, 2003) was an American stock car racing driver from Willis, Michigan. He is most famous for his performance in the ARCA series in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, where he won six championships ...

- stock car racer * Butch Komives - Professional basketball player * William Konyha - carpenter, labor leader *

Bernie Kosar Bernard Joseph Kosar Jr. (born November 25, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played collegiately at the University of Miami where he led the team to a national championship in 1983. He subsequently played professionally in ...

- American football player *

Joseph Kosuth Joseph Kosuth (; born January 31, 1945), an American conceptual artist, lives in New York and London,

- conceptual artist *

Joe Kovacs Joseph Mathias Kovacs (born June 28, 1989) is an American track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and has a personal record of 23.23 meters outdoors and 22.05 meters indoors. He won gold medals at the 2015 and 2019 World ...

- athlete *

Jordan Kovacs Jordan David Kovacs (born June 12, 1990) is a former American football safety who is currently an assistant linebackers coach for the Cincinnati Bengals. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He played college fo ...

- American football player * Kálmán Kubinyi - etcher *

Greg Mancz Gregory Brian Mancz (born April 23, 1992) is an American football center for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He played college football at Toledo, where he was a four-year starter at several positions along the offensive line ...

- American football player * Dave Meggyesy - American football player * Zoltan Mesko - American football player *

Nick Nemeth Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and stand-up comedian. He is currently signed to WWE under the ring name Dolph Ziggler, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand. After a prolific ca ...

- wrestler *

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...

- actor *

Tom Orosz Tom Orosz (born September 26, 1959) is a former American football punter. He played in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphins from 1981 to 1982 and for the San Francisco 49ers from 1983 to 1984. He was an All-American at Ohio State ...

- American football player *

Michael Pataki Michael Pataki (January 16, 1938 – April 15, 2010) was an American actor. Early life Pataki was born in Youngstown, Ohio. His parents were Hungarians. He was the youngest of three children - one older brother and one older sister. He atten ...

- actor *

Jack Rudnay John Carl "Jack" Rudnay (born November 20, 1947) is a former professional American football center in the National Football League. He played his entire 13-year career with the Kansas City Chiefs. Early life Rudnay graduated in 1965 from Kenston ...

- American football player *

Don Shula Donald Francis Shula (January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American football defensive back and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his ca ...

- football coach *

Joanne Siegel Joanne Siegel ( ; born Jolan Kovacs; December 1, 1917 – February 12, 2011) was an American model, who in the 1930s worked with Superman artist Joe Shuster as the model for Lois Lane, Superman's love interest. She later married Superman's co-cre ...

(born ''Kovacs'') - model *

- Ohio representative *

Lajos Takács Lajos Takács (August 21, 1924 (Maglód) – December 4, 2015) was a Hungarian mathematician, known for his contributions to probability theory and in particular, queueing theory. He wrote over two hundred scientific papers and six books. He st ...

- Mathematician and Pioneer in Queueing Theory *

Judy Takács Judy Takács (born 1962, New York) is a contemporary figurative painter, known for her realistic paintings from her ongoing, traveling portrait series, ''Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes''. “Takács is a figurative art ...

- artist *

Kevin Toth Kevin Toth (born December 29, 1967, in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American former shot put athlete. His personal best throw was in 2003, which places him 9th on the all-time performers list (). In 2004, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announc ...

- athlete *

Peter Wolf Toth Peter Wolf Toth (born December 1947) is a Hungarian-born American sculptor, who immigrated to the United States and settled in Akron, Ohio. He later studied art at the University of Akron. He created a series of sculptures called ''Trail of t ...

- sculptor *

Mitch Trubisky Mitchell David Trubisky (born August 20, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Carolina and was drafted second overall by the Chicago ...

- NFL Quarterback * Peter Ujvagi - Ohio representative *

Richard S. Varga Richard Steven Varga (October 9, 1928 - February 25, 2022) was an American mathematician who specialized in numerical analysis and linear algebra. He was an Emeritus University Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Kent State University and an a ...

- mathematician *

Ted Wass Edward Wass (born October 27, 1952) is an American television director and former actor. He is best known for his roles as Danny Dallas on the series ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and as Nick Russo on the NBC sitcom ''Blossom'' (1991–1995). After ''B ...

- actor, director

References

External links

Hungarian Ohioans

Cleveland Hungarian Museum

Hungarian Cultural Center of Northeastern Ohio
{{Portal bar, Hungary, Ohio Hungarian-American history Lists of people from Ohio Ethnic groups in Ohio

History

Hungarians in Cleveland

Notable people

See also

References

External links