The Kossuth Prize ( hu, Kossuth-díj) is a state-sponsored award in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1948 (on occasion of the centenary of the March 15th revolution, the day on which it is still handed over every year) by the Hungarian National Assembly, to acknowledge outstanding personal and group achievements in the fields of science, culture and the arts, as well as in the building of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

in general. In 1950s the award was given to Gabor Bela Fodor for his contributions in the field of Chemistry as the prize was given to selected scientists. Since 1963, the domain was restricted to culture and the arts. Today, it is regarded as the most prestigious cultural award in Hungary, and is awarded by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Note: This is not a complete listing.

Recipients

* Aladár Rácz (1948) *

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (; hu, Kodály Zoltán, ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music edu ...

(1948) * István Csók (1948 and 1952) * Ferenc Erdei (1948 and 1962) * Milán Füst (1948) *

Gizi Bajor Gizi Bajor, or Gizi Bayor (born Gizella Beyer;18 May 1893, Budapest - 12 February 1951, Budapest) was a Hungarian actress. Life Gizi Bajor born on 18 May 1893, in Budapest. Her father, a former mining engineer, and her mother of Italian ancest ...

(1948) *

Pál Turán Pál Turán (; 18 August 1910 – 26 September 1976) also known as Paul Turán, was a Hungarian mathematician who worked primarily in extremal combinatorics. He had a long collaboration with fellow Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, lasting ...

(1948 and 1952) * Géza Zemplén (1948) *

Béla Balázs Béla Balázs (; 4 August 1884 in Szeged – 17 May 1949 in Budapest), born Herbert Béla Bauer, was a Hungarian film critic, aesthetician, writer and poet of Jewish heritage. He was a proponent of formalist film theory. Career Balázs was th ...

(1949) * Jenő Egerváry (1949) *

Annie Fischer Annie Fischer (July 5, 1914April 10, 1995) was a Hungarian classical pianist. Biography Fischer was born into a Jewish family in Budapest and studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music with Ernő Dohnányi and Arnold Szekely. She began he ...

(1949, 1955, 1965) * József Marek (1949) * Ferenc Mérei (1949) * Ági Mészáros (1949, 1954) * Hilda Gobbi (1949) * Józsi Jenő Tersánszky (1949) *

Sándor Veress Sándor Veress (, – ) was a Swiss composer of Hungarian origin. He was born in Kolozsvár/Klausenburg, Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire, nowadays called Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and died in Bern. The first half of hi ...

(1949) * Fódor Gábor Bela (1950) *

László Kalmár László Kalmár (27 March 1905, Edde – 2 August 1976, Mátraháza) was a Hungarian mathematician and Professor at the University of Szeged. Kalmár is considered the founder of mathematical logic and theoretical computer science in Hungary ...

(1950) * Kálmán Latabár (1950) * Péter Veres (1950, 1952) * Leó Weiner (1950, 1960) * János Görbe (1951) * László Heller (1951) *

László Lajtha László Lajtha (; 30 June 1892 – 16 February 1963) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist and conductor. Career Born to Ida Wiesel, a Transsylvanian-Hungarian and Pál Lajtha, an owner of a leather factory. The father Pál had ambit ...

(1951) *

Rózsa Péter Rózsa Péter, born Rózsa Politzer, (17 February 1905 – 16 February 1977) was a Hungarian mathematician and logician. She is best known as the "founding mother of recursion theory". Early life and education Péter was born in Budapest, ...

(1951) * Klári Tolnay (1951 and 1952) * Zoltán Földi (1952) * Margit Dajka (1952) * Sándor Jávorka (1952) *

Tibor Szele Tibor Szele (Debrecen, 21 June 1918 – Szeged, 5 April 1955) Hungarian mathematician, working in combinatorics and abstract algebra. After graduating at the Debrecen University, he became a researcher at the Szeged University in 1946, then ...

(1952) * Éva Szörényi (1952) * Margit Dajka (1952) *

Miklós Gábor Miklós Gábor (7 April 1919 – 2 July 1998) was a Hungarian actor, most remembered for his roles in films ''Valahol Európában'' and ''Mágnás Miska''. He was husband to Éva Ruttkai, and later Éva Vass. Miklós Gábor was born 7 Ap ...

(1953) * Hanna Honthy (1953) *

Ferenc Bessenyei Ferenc Bessenyei (10 February 1919 – 27 December 2004) was a Hungarian actor and singer. He began his career in the choir at National Theatre of Szeged in 1940 and became one of Hungary's most respected stage performers. As singer he appe ...

(1953 and 1955) *

Andor Ajtay Andor Ajtay (1903–1975) was a Hungarian Kossuth Prize-winning (1954) actor. Selected filmography * '' Lady Seeks a Room'' (1937) * '' I defended a woman'' (1938) * ''Two Girls on the Street'' (1939) * ''Orient Express'' (1943) * '' Two Wish ...

(1954) * Jenő Barcsay (1954) * Gyula Gózon (1954) * Péter Kuczka (1954) * Lajos Bárdos (1955) * István Eiben (1955) * Ferenc Ecker (1955) *

Zoltán Fábri Zoltán Fábri (15 October 1917 – 23 August 1994) was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. His films ''The Boys of Paul Street'' (1969) and ''Hungarians'' (1978) were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. H ...

(1955) *

Albert Fonó Albert Fonó (born 2 July 1881 in Budapest, d. 21 November 1972 in Budapest), a successful Hungarian mechanical engineer who was one of the early pioneers of turbojet and ramjet propulsion and was first to patent a ramjet engine and a turbojet eng ...

(1956) *Gyula Kaesz (1956) * László Ranódy (1956) * Jenő Ádám (1957) *

Miklós Borsos Miklós Borsos (13 August 1906 – 27 January 1990) was a Hungarian sculptor and medallist. His style integrated elements of archaic art and classicism with modern elements. Biography Born in Nagyszeben, Transylvania (present-day Sibiu, Romani ...

(1957) * Manyi Kiss (1957) *

László Németh László Németh (18 April 1901 – 3 March 1975) was a Hungary, Hungarian dentist, writer, dramatist and essayist. He was born in Baia Mare, Nagybánya the son of József Németh (1873–1946) and Vilma Gaál (1879–1957). Over the Chr ...

(1957) * Mária Sulyok (1957) *

László Fejes Tóth László Fejes Tóth ( hu, Fejes Tóth László, 12 March 1915 – 17 March 2005) was a Hungarian mathematician who specialized in geometry. He proved that a lattice pattern is the most efficient way to pack centrally symmetric convex sets on th ...

(1957) * Mór Korach (1958) * Tátrai Quartet (1958) *

Éva Ruttkai Éva Ruttkai (31 December 1927 – 27 September 1986) was a Hungarian actress, well known from her work on stage, cinema, and television productions. She was the wife of Miklós Gábor, and later Zoltán Latinovits. Life Éva Ruttkai (born Év ...

(1960) *

Leo Weiner Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * '' Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts a ...

(1960) *

Iván Berend Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

(1961) * Tibor Czibere (1962) * István Vas (1962, 1985) *

Ákos Császár Ákos Császár ( hu, Császár Ákos, ) (26 February 1924, Budapest – 14 December 2017, Budapest) was a Hungarian mathematician, specializing in general topology and real analysis. He discovered the Császár polyhedron, a nonconvex polyhedr ...

(1963) * Dénes Kovács (1963) * Robert Ilosfalvy (1965) * Pál Lukács (1965) * László Nagy (1966) *

Imre Sinkovits Imre Sinkovits (21 September 1928 in Budapest – 18 January 2001 in Budapest) was a Hungarian actor. Career After a year in Downtown Theatre and another in Youth Theatre, in 1949 he got a job in National Theatre, where he stayed until ...

(1966) *

Sándor Szokolay Sándor Szokolay (30 March 1931 – 8 December 2013)Elhunyt Szokolay Sándor zen ...

(1966) *

Irén Psota Irén Psota (28 March 1929 – 25 February 2016) was a Hungarian actress, who received two Kossuth Awards. Life Irén Psota was born on 28 March 1929. She was a Hungarian actress and singer. Her parents were István Psota and Ilona Dávid. S ...

(1966 and 2007) * Erzsébet Házy (1970) * Péter Komlós (1970) *

György Kurtág György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian classical composer and pianist. He was an academic teacher of piano at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music from 1967, later also of chamber music, and taught until 1993. Biography Györ ...

(1973) *

Líviusz Gyulai Líviusz Gyulai (December 2, 1937 – March 16, 2021) was a Hungarian graphic artist, printmaker, illustrator. Biography Born at BaraoltMiklós Jancsó Miklós Jancsó (; 27 September 192131 January 2014) was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. Jancsó achieved international prominence starting in the mid-1960s with works including '' The Round-Up'' (''Szegénylegények'', 1965), '' ...

(1973), (2006) * Ferenc Sánta (1973) * Mari Törőcsik (1973, 1999 and 2019) * Miklós Erdélyi (1975) *

Magda Szabó Magda Szabó (October 5, 1917 – November 19, 2007) was a Hungarian novelist. Doctor of philology, she also wrote dramas, essays, studies, memoirs, poetry and children's literature. She was a founding member of the , an online digital repos ...

(1978) * Iván Darvas (1978) * Erzsébet Galgóczi (1978) *

Sándor Sára Sándor Sára (28 November 1933 – 22 September 2019) was a Hungarian cinematographer and film director. He directed 16 films between 1962 and 2004. His film ''The Upthrown Stone'' was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, but ...

(1978 and 2018) * Dezső Ránki (1978 and 2008) *

Zoltán Kocsis Zoltán Kocsis (; 30 May 1952 – 6 November 2016) was a Hungarian pianist, conductor and composer. Biography Studies Born in Budapest, he began his musical studies at the age of five and continued them at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in 19 ...

(1978) *

János Pilinszky János Pilinszky (27 November 1921 in Budapest – 27 May 1981 in Budapest) was one of the greatest Hungarian poets of the 20th century. Well known within the Hungarian borders for his vast influence on postwar Hungarian poetry, Pilins ...

(1980) * Iván Markó (1983) * László Márkus (1983) * Géza Ottlik (1985) * András Szőllősy (1985) *

Dezső Garas Dezső Garas (9 December 1934 – 30 December 2011) was a Hungarian actor, who appeared in more than 145 films and television shows since 1956. He starred in the 1993 film '' Whoops'', which was entered into the 43rd Berlin International F ...

(1988) *

Iván Mándy Iván Mándy (23 December 1918 in Budapest – 6 October 1995 in Budapest) was a Hungarian writer. Biography From 1945 on Mándy worked at the literary revue Újhold. After the Stalinist takeover he became a freelance writer. In 1989 he got agai ...

(1988) *

Miklós Szentkuthy Miklós Szentkuthy (born Miklós Pfisterer; 2 June 1908 – 18 July 1988) was one of the most prolific Hungarian writers of the 20th century. His works include numerous novels, essays, translations, and a voluminous diary spanning the years 1930� ...

(1988) * Sandor Marai (1989) * György Cserhalmi (1990) * Sándor Csoóri (1990) *

Ernő Dohnányi Ernő or Erno is a Finnish and Hungarian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Ernő Balogh (1897-1989), Hungarian pianist, composer, editor, and educator * Ernő Bánk (1883-1962), Hungarian painter and teacher * Ernő B ...

(1990) *

Imre Makovecz Imre Makovecz (November 20, 1935 – September 27, 2011) was a Hungarian architect active in Europe from the late 1950s onward. Makovecz was born and died in Budapest. He attended the Technical University of Budapest. He was founder and "eter ...

(1990) * Ferenc Farkas (1991) * István Gaál (1991) * Sándor Szabó (1991) *

Péter Nádas Péter Nádas (born 14 October 1942) is a Hungarian writer, playwright, and essayist. Biography He was born in Budapest into a Jewish family, the son of László Nádas (originally Nussbaum) and Klára Tauber. After the takeover of the Hunga ...

(1992) * István Ágh (1992) * Sándor Kányádi (1993) * Sándor Reisenbüchler (1993) * Ferenc Ban (1994) *

György Faludy György Faludy (September 22, 1910 – September 1, 2006; ), sometimes anglicized as George Faludy, was a Hungarian poet, writer and translator. Life Travels, vicissitudes, and remembrance Faludy completed his schooling in the Fasori Ev ...

(1994) * Tamás Lossonczy (1994) * Adrienne Jancsó (1995) *

Péter Esterházy Péter Esterházy (14 April 1950 – 14 July 2016) was a Hungarian writer. He was one of the best known Hungarian and Central European writers of his era. He has been called a "leading figure of 20th century Hungarian literature", his books being ...

(1996) * József Király (1996) * György Petri (1996) * András Schiff (1996) * Bartók String Quartet (1997) * Péter Gothár (1997) * Jenő Jandó (1997) *

Imre Kertész Imre Kertész (; 9 November 192931 March 2016) was a Hungarian author and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature, "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history". He was ...

(1997) * Ferenc Zenthe (1997) *

Éva Marton Éva Marton (born 18 June 1943) is a Hungarian dramatic soprano, particularly known for her operatic portrayals of Puccini's ''Turandot'' and ''Tosca'', and Wagnerian roles. Vocal training and early years Marton was born in Budapest, where ...

(1997) * Géza Hofi (1998) * Györgyi Szakács (1998) * Dezső Tandori (1998) * József Gregor (1999) * János Kass (1999) * Márta Sebestyén (1999) * Károly Eperjes (1999) * Péter Korniss (1999) * József Soproni (1999) * Lívia Gyarmathy (2000) * Miklós Kocsár (2000) * Gáspár Nagy (2000) * Géza Böszörményi (2000) * János Bródy (2000) *

Enikő Eszenyi Enikő Eszenyi (born 11 January 1961) is a Hungarian actress and theater director, recipient of Kossuth Prize (2001). She appeared in 1991's '' Paths of Death and Angels''. Selected filmography * '' Night Rehearsal'' (1983) * '' Eldorado'' (19 ...

(2001) * Zoltán Jeney (2001) *

Margit Bara Margit Bara (21 June 1928 – 25 October 2016) was a Hungarian film actress. She appeared in 25 films between 1956 and 1975. She retired from acting in 1977 and later in 1992 received the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary and in 200 ...

(2002) *

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös ( hu, Eötvös Péter, ; born 2 January 1944) is a Hungarian composer, conductor and teacher. Eötvös was born in Székelyudvarhely, Transylvania, then part of Hungary, now Romania. He studied composition in Budapest and Colog ...

(2002) * El Kazovsky (2002) *

Aladár Pege Aladár Pege (8 October 1939 – 23 September 2006) was a jazz musician from Hungary. He was well known for his work and was dubbed "the Paganini of double bass". He was chosen as best soloist of Europe in 1970, performed at Carnegie Hall and ...

(2002) * András Bálint (2003) *

Ádám Bodor Ádám Bodor (born 22 February 1936 in Cluj) is a Hungarian author of Transylvanian Hungarian origin. Life and writing Bodor was born in Romania to a staunchly anti-communist father and was himself an anti-communist. In his youth he believed i ...

(2003) * Éva Janikovszky (2003) *

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century ...

(2003) * László Marton (2003) *

Béla Tarr Béla Tarr (born 21 July 1955) is a Hungarian filmmaker. Debuting with the film ''Family Nest'' (1977), Tarr began his directorial career with a brief period of what he refers to as "social cinema", aimed at telling everyday stories about ordin ...

(2003) * Amadinda Percussion Group (2004) * Gergely Bogányi (2004) *

Líviusz Gyulai Líviusz Gyulai (December 2, 1937 – March 16, 2021) was a Hungarian graphic artist, printmaker, illustrator. Biography Born at BaraoltLászló Krasznahorkai (2004) * Andrea Rost (2004) * Gyula Bodrogi (2005) *

(2005) * György Szomjas (2005) * Pál Závada (2005) * Eszter Csákányi (2006) *

Iván Fischer Iván Fischer (born 20 January 1951) is a Hungarian conductor and composer. Born in Budapest into a musical family of Jewish heritage, Fischer initially studied piano, violin, cello and composition in Budapest. His older brother, Ádám Fisc ...

(2006) *

János Herskó János Herskó (9 April 1926 – 12 October 2011) was a Hungarian film director and actor. He appeared in 15 films between 1963 and 2006. He also directed nine films between 1948 and 1990. In 1963, he was a member of the jury at the 3rd Mos ...

(2006) * János Kulka (2006) *

György Spiró György (George) Spiró (born 4 April 1946 in Budapest) is a dramatist, novelist and essayist who has emerged as one of post-war Hungary's most prominent literary figures. He is a member of the Széchenyi Academy of Literature and Arts. Life ...

(2006) * Erzsébet Szőnyi (2006) * Zorán Sztevanovity (2006) * Nelly Vágó (2006) * László Gálffi (2007) * Gábor Görgey (2007) * András Kern (2007) *

Ferenc Kósa Ferenc Kósa (21 November 1937 – 12 December 2018) was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. He directed thirteen films between 1961 and 1988. He won the award for Best Director at the 1967 Cannes Film Festival The 20th Cannes F ...

(2007) * András Ligeti (2007) * Miklós Perényi (2007) * Ernő Rubik (2007) *

Judit Elek Judit Elek (born 10 November 1937) is a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. She directed 16 films between 1962 and 2006. Her film '' Mária-nap'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. Filmograph ...

(2008) * János Fajó (2008) * Ádám Fischer (2008) * Zsuzsa Koncz (2008) * Péter Kovács (2008) * Dezső Ránki (2008) * Mihály Balázs (2009) * Gábor Máté (2009) * László Rajk Jr. (2009) * Pál Sándor (2009) * Endre Tot (2009) * Tamás Féner (2010) * Gyula Maár (2010) *

Ferenc Rados Ferenc Rados (born 26 October 1934, in Budapest) is a Hungarian pianist and professor of piano and chamber music. Until 1996, he taught at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary. After retiring, he gave master classes in Europe an ...

(2010) * László Vidovszky (2010) * Agota Kristof (2011) * István Nemeskürty (2011) *

István Orosz István Orosz (born 24 October 1951) is a Hungarian painter, printmaker, graphic designer and animated film director. He is known for his mathematically inspired works, impossible objects, optical illusions, double-meaning images and anamorphos ...

(2011) * Judit Reigl (2011) * Ferenc Rofusz (2011) * György Szabados (2011) * Ákos Kovács (2012) * Éva Schubert (2013) * Zoltán Gera (2013) * Vera Pap (2013) *

Omega Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/ isopsephy ( gematria), it has a value of 800. The ...

(2013) * Ferenc Snétberger (2014) * Kati Kovács (2014) * Atilla Kiss B. (2014) *

Fecó Balázs Fecó Balázs (born Ferenc Balázs; Budapest, 2 March 1951 – 26 November 2020) was a Hungarian singer, songwriter, and keyboardist and the founder of popular Hungarian rock band Korál. Biography Balázs was born in Budapest and attended ...

(2016) * László Nemes (2016) * Ildikó Komlósi (2016) *

Géza Röhrig Géza Röhrig ( hu, Röhrig Géza, ; May 11, 1967) is a Hungarian actor and poet. He is best known for his role in the 2015 film ''Son of Saul'', which won the Grand Prix at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Lang ...

(2016) * Sylvia Sass (2017) * László Tahi Tóth (2017) *

Károly Frenreisz Károly Frenreisz (born 8 November 1946, Budapest, Hungary) is a Hungarian rock singer and songwriter. Life Frenreisz first studied piano and then learned to play the clarinet, saxophone, and bass. He was from 1965 to 1971 part of the band Me ...

(2017) * Cecília Esztergályos (2018) * Teri Tordai (2018) *

Feró Nagy Ferenc "Feró" Nagy (born 14 January 1946 in Letenye, Hungary) is a Hungarian rock singer and musician. Although not proficient on any instrument, he can play the guitar, the harmonica, the saxophone and the piano. Career Feró studied at the ...

(2021)

References

{{reflist Arts awards Hungarian awards Awards established in 1948 1948 establishments in Hungary