List of Székelys explained

This is a list of notable Székelys (a Hungarian subgroup living mostly in the Székely Land in Romania, estimated to number about 500,000–700,000 as of 2022^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}) and of people of Székely descent, sorted by field and name:

Athletes

• Francisc Balla (born 1932), freestyle wrestler, won silver medals at the 1965 and 1967 World Wrestling Championships and a silver medal (1967) and bronze medal (1968) at the European Wrestling Championships
• Mihály Bodosi (1909 – 2005), athlete, competed in the men's high jump at the 1936 Summer Olympics^[5]
• László Bölöni (born 1953), Romanian football player and manager of Hungarian ethnicity^[6]
• Zsolt Erőss (1968 – 2013), mountain climber
• Réka Forika (born 1989), Romanian biathlete of Hungarian ethnicity, won a gold medal at the Biathlon Junior World Championships 2010^[7]
• Csaba Györffy (1943 – 2018), Romanian international footballer
• Mónika György (born 1982), Romanian cross-country skier of Hungarian ethnicity^[8]
• Kálmán Hazai (1913 – 1996), water polo player, won a gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics
• Ferenc Ilyés (born 1981), Hungarian international handball player
• Emil Imre (born 1996), Romanian short track speed skater of Hungarian ethnicity,^[9] won a gold medal at the 2013 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival
• Kriszta Incze (born 1996), freestyle wrestler, won a silver medal at the 2019 European Championships, a bronze medal at the 2021 European Championships, a bronze medal at the 2022 European Championships, and another bronze medal at the 2019 European Games^[10]
• Zoltán Kádár (born 1966), Romanian international football player of Hungarian ethnicity^{[11] [12]}
• Zoltán Kelemen (born 1986), Romanian figure skater
• Lajos Keresztes (1900 – 1978), wrestler, won a gold medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics
• Katalin Kristó (born 1983), Romanian short track speed skater of Hungarian ethnicity^[13]
• Csaba László (born 1964), Romanian-Hungarian professional football manager^{[14] [15]}
• Márton Lőrincz (1911 – 1969), wrestler, won a gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics
• Tímea Lőrincz (born 1992), Romanian cross-country skier of Hungarian ethnicity
• Edit Matei (born 1964), Austrian-Romanian international handball player
• Edit Miklós (born 1988), Hungarian-Romanian World Cup alpine ski racer of Hungarian ethnicity;^[16] she began skiing at age five, participating in World Cup races for children by the age of 12, and making her World Cup debut in December 2005 at age 17^[17]
• Endre Molnár (born 1945), water polo player, won a gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics, as well as a silver medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics, and another bronze medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics
• Roland Niczuly (born 1995), Romanian professional football player, captain of Sepsi OSK^[18]
• Carol-Eduard Novak (born 1976), Romanian road and track racing cyclist of Hungarian ethnicity^[19]
• Tibor Selymes (born 1970), Romanian international football player
• Iozefina Ștefănescu (1932 – 2015), Romanian handball player
• Ecaterina Szabo (born 1967), artistic gymnast, won 20 Olympic, world and continental medals, including four Olympic golds
• Éva Székely (1927 – 2020), swimmer, won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics
• Bernadette Szőcs (born 1995), Romanian professional table tennis player
• Emőke Szőcs (born 1985), Romanian-born biathlonist^[20]
• Éva Tófalvi (born 1978), Romanian biathlete of Hungarian ethnicity^[21]
• Maria Török-Duca (born 1959), professional handball player and manager, regarded by some as the greatest Romanian playmaker of all time^{[22] [23]}
• Levente Vajda (born 1981), chess player, Grandmaster
• Szidonia Vajda (born 1979), chess player, with FIDE titles of International Master and Woman Grandmaster
• Lajos Vákár (1910 – 1993), ice hockey player and coach

Science and Humanities

• János Apáczai Csere (1625 – 1659), polyglot, pedagogist, philosopher and theologian
• Márton Balázs (1929 – 2016), Romanian mathematician of Hungarian descent^[24]
• Gábor Bálint – linguist
• Albert-László Barabási (born 1967), Romanian-born Hungarian-American physicist, known for his discoveries in network science and network medicine
• Ákos Birtalan (1962 – 2011), economist and politician
• Péter Bod (1712 – 1768), theologian and historian
• Farkas Bolyai (1775 – 1856), mathematician
• János Bolyai (1802 – 1860), mathematician who developed absolute geometry
• László Borbély (born 1954), economist and politician
• Edmond Bordeaux Szekely (1905 – 1979), philologist, linguist, psychologist
• Sándor Kőrösi Csoma (1784 – 1842), philologist and Orientalist
• Endre Fülei-Szántó (1924 – 1995), linguist, author and professor
• György Frunda (born 1951), jurist and politician
• Erasmus Julius Nyárády (1881 – 1966), botanist
• Tivadar Puskás (1844 – 1893), inventor, telephone pioneer, and inventor of the telephone exchange^{[25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30]}
• István Szamosközy (1570 – 1612), humanist and historian
• Gyula Vályi (1855 – 1913), mathematician and theoretical physicist
• Attila Verestóy (1954 – 2018), chemical engineer and politician

Musicians

• Bíborka Bocskor (born 1982), singer and songwriter
• Boldizsár Csiky (born 1937), composer
• Annamari Dancs (born 1981), singer
• János Koós (1937 – 2019), pop singer
• Kálmán Mihalik (1896 – 1922), physician and composer, set the music for Székely himnusz
• Imre Palló (1891 – 1978), baritone, opera house manager
• Anne Roselle (1894 – 1989), opera singer and actress

Artists

• Miklós Barabás (1810 – 1898), painter
• Attila Bartis (born 1968), writer, photographer, dramatist and journalist
• André de Dienes (1913 – 1985), photographer, noted for his work with Marilyn Monroe
• Manyi Kiss (1911 – 1971), theater and film actress
• Róza Laborfalvi (1817 – 1886), theater actress, noblewoman
• Louis C.K. (born 1967), American comedian of Hungarian origin^[31]
• Ferenc Márton (1884 – 1940), painter
• János Mattis-Teutsch (1884 – 1960), painter, sculptor, graphic artist, art critic and poet, father of Székely origins^[32]
• Imre Nagy (1893 – 1976), painter
• István Nagy (1873 – 1937), artist who specialized in landscapes and figure painting
• Bertalan Székely (1835 – 1910), history and portrait painter
• Gábor Tompa (born 1957), theater and film director

Writers

• Gloria Álvarez (born 1985), radio and television presenter, author, and libertarian political commentator, mother of Székely origin
• Olga Bede (1908 – 1925), writer
• Elek Benedek (1859 – 1929), journalist and writer
• Domokos Bölöni (born 1946), writer and journalist
• György Csanády (1895 – 1952), poet, journalist and radio director, the author of Székely himnusz
• György Dragomán (born 1973), author and translator
• György Enyedi (1555 – 1597), Unitarian bishop, moderator, and writer
• Sándor Bölöni Farkas (1795 – 1842), writer
• Attila György (born 1971), writer, journalist, literary editor
• Sándor Kányádi (1929 – 2018), poet and translator, one of the most famous and beloved Hungarian poets in his lifetime
• Kelemen Mikes (1690 – 1761), political figure and essayist
• József Nyírő (1889 – 1953), writer of popular short stories and novels^[33]
• Balázs Orbán (1829 – 1890), author, ethnographic collector, parliamentarian, correspondent member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
• Erno Polgar (1954 – 2018), writer, nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017
• Dávid Baróti Szabó (1739 – 1819), poet, linguist, Jesuit priest and teacher
• Géza Szőcs (1953 – 2020), poet and politician
• Áron Tamási (1897 – 1966), Hungarian writer, famous for his stories written in original Székely style

Military

• János Czetz (1822 – 1904), military commander
• György Dózsa (1470 – 1514), man-at-arms
• Áron Gábor (1814 – 1849), artillery officer
• Albert Király (fl. 1595), military leader
• Vilmos Nagy de Nagybaczon (1884 – 1976), commanding general of the Royal Hungarian Army, Hungarian Minister of Defense, military theorist and historian
• Moses Székely (c. 1553 – 1603), nobleman and military leader

Politicians

• József Dudás (1912 – 1957), politician and resistance fighter
• Sámuel Kálnoky (1640 – 1706), Chancellor of Transylvania
• Attila Kelemen (1948 – 2022), Romanian politician and Member of the European Parliament
• Hunor Kelemen (born 1967), politician and writer
• Károly Király (1930 – 2021), politician
• Elek Köblös (1887 – 1938), activist and political leader
• Vasile Luca (1898 – 1963), Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian and Soviet politician of Székely origin^[34]
• Béla Markó (born 1951), Romanian politician
• Imre Mikó (1805 – 1876), statesman, politician, economist, historian and patron
• Zsolt Nagy (born 1971), Romanian politician of Hungarian ethnicity
• László Rajk (1909 – 1949), politician, Hungarian Minister of Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Barna Tánczos (born 1976), politician
• Lóránt Vincze (born 1977), politician

Other

• Attila Ambrus (born 1967), bank robber^[35]
• Florence Baker (1841 – 1916), explorer^[36]
• Zoltán Dani (born 1956), Yugoslav army officer, father of Székely origin^[37]
• Sándor Demján (1943 – 2018), businessman, entrepreneur, the second richest person in Hungary according to Forbes
• Gergely Kovács (born 1968), archbishop of the Archdiocese of Alba Iulia.^[38]
• Áron Márton (1896 – 1980), Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Alba Iulia
• Moses Székely the Younger (1603 – c. 1658), nobleman, Prince of Transylvania
• Dezső Varga (born 1939), Romanian ice hockey player^{[39] [40]}

See also

• List of Hungarians

Notes and References

1. Web site: Nota metodologica . Insse.ro . 2013-11-26.
2. Archivum Ottomanicum, Volume 20, Mouton, 2002, original from: the University of Michigan, p. 66, Cited: "A few tens of years ago the Szekler population was estimated at more than 800.000, but now they are probably ca. 500.000 in number."
3. Book: [{{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=jLfX1q3kJzgC |page=334 }} Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-century Central-Eastern ... ]. Piotr Eberhardt . 2013-11-26.
4. Judit Tóth and Endre Sík, "Joining and EU: integration of Hungary or the Hungarians?" In: Willfried Spohn, Anna Triandafyllidou, [{{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=gnNs_N3hXbIC }} Europeanisation, National Identities and Migration: Changes in Boundary Constructions between Western and Eastern Europe], Psychology Press, 2012, p. 228
5. Mihály Bodosi Olympic Results . https://web.archive.org/web/20200418003122/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bo/mihaly-bodosi-1.html . dead . 18 April 2020 . 26 December 2017.
6. Web site: Csak a csend marad – a Bölöni család tragédiákkal terhelt története. Only silence remains – the tragic story of the Bölöni family. hu. Péter. Csillag. Nemzeti Sport. 25 April 2019. 21 May 2022. Önfeledt, napfényes gyermekkor pillanatai ezek, pedig a háttérben egy meghurcolt erdélyi magyar család huszadik századi, könnyel, verítékkel írt küzdelmes története rejlik.. These are moments of an exuberant, sunny childhood, but in the background lies the struggling, twentieth-century story of a persecuted Transylvanian Hungarian family, written with tears and sweat..
7. Web site: Titkos küldetés. Transindex.ro. 9 February 2010. 28 December 2011. Hungarian.
8. Web site: Titkos küldetés. Transindex.ro. 9 February 2010. 28 December 2011. Hungarian.
9. Web site: Emil Imre, eroul României la FOTE . EVZ.ro . 19 February 2013 . 30 November 2013 . Romanian.
10. Web site: Erdélyi magyar sportoló az ötkarikás játékokon, Incze Kriszta kijutott az olimpiára. hu. kronikaonline.ro. 15 June 2021. 25 July 2021.
11. Web site: Fostul internațional român Zoltan Kadar, numit antrenor la cea mai titrată echipă din fotbalul elvețian. Fanatik.ro. Romanian . Former Romanian international Zoltan Kadar, named coach of the most titled team in Swiss football. 16 May 2020 . 19 September 2021.
12. Web site: Ex-dinamovistul Zoltan Kadar, planuri mari la Grasshopper Zurich. "A fost o surpriză plăcută!". Digisport.ro. Romanian . Former Dinamo player Zoltan Kadar, big plans at Grasshopper Zurich. "It was a pleasant surprise!". 31 May 2020 . 19 September 2021.
13. Web site: Titkos küldetés. Transindex.ro. 9 February 2010. 28 December 2011. Hungarian.
14. Web site: Csaba Laszlo. 2009-03-22. heartsfc.premiumtv.co.uk. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090225061817/http://www.heartsfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Squad/CoachingSquadDetail/0%2C%2C10289~1359221%2C00.html. 25 February 2009.
15. Web site: Érdekes ez a cikk? Igen Nem . Csaba László says in this interview, he considers himself a Hungarian . Origo.hu . 1999-01-31 . 2009-09-20.
16. Web site: Titkos küldetés. Transindex.ro. 1968 óta nem szerzett érmet Románia a téli olimpiákon, és a 28 sportolóból álló küldöttségből (köztük hat – Ferencz Réka, György Mónika, Kelemen Zoltán, Kristó Katalin, Miklós Edith és Tófalvi Éva – magyar nemzetiségű) most is csak egyvalakit tartanak esélyesnek a dobogós helyezésre." ("Since 1968 Romania did not win any medal at the Winter Olympics, and from the delegate of 28 athletes (including six – Ferencz Réka, György Mónika, Kelemen Zoltán, Kristó Katalin, Miklós Edith and Tófalvi Éva – who are of Hungarian nationality) they consider only one who may reach a podium place. 9 February 2010. 27 December 2011. Hungarian.
17. Web site: Miklós Edit már Magyarországért síel. SportGéza. 8 February 2011. 27 December 2011. Hungarian.
18. Web site: Niczuly Roland a fost extrem de afectat la interviul de după meci: "M-au scuipat. Au fost doar scandări xenofobe şi înjurături". Niczuly Roland was extremely affected in the post-match interview: "They spat on me. There was only xenophobic chanting and swearing.". Telekom Sport. ro. 9 August 2021. 3 October 2021.
19. Web site: Paralimpia: erdélyi magyar sportoló viszi a román zászlót . . Hungarian Press Agency . 24 August 2012 . 14 September 2012 . Hungarian . https://web.archive.org/web/20160630050830/http://www.nemzetisport.hu/london_2012/paralimpia-erdelyi-magyar-sportolo-viszi-a-roman-zaszlot-2167297 . 30 June 2016 . live.
20. Web site: Világkupában indulna a magyar sílövő. Havazin. 13 December 2011. 11 January 2012. Hungarian.
21. Web site: Titkos küldetés. Transindex.ro. 9 February 2010. 28 December 2011. Hungarian.
22. https://www.gsp.ro/sporturi/handbal/un-monument-viu-110858.html Un monument viu
23. https://www.gsp.ro/gsp-special/superreportaje/gsp-ti-l-prezinta-pe-omul-din-spatele-succesului-oltchimului-presedintele-181872.html GSP ţi-l prezintă pe omul din spatele succesului Oltchimului » Preşedintele
24. [:hu:Kása Zoltán|Kása Zoltán]
25. Book: Alvin K. Benson. Inventors and inventions Great lives from history Volume 4 of Great Lives from History: Inventors & Inventions. Salem Press. 2010. 1298. 9781587655227.
26. Web site: Biodata. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080507150506/http://www.hungarian-history.hu/mszh/epuskas.htm. 2008-05-07.
27. Web site: Szellemi Tulajdon Nemzeti Hivatala. Szellemi Tulajdon Nemzeti Hivatala.
28. https://web.archive.org/web/20021030011302/http://www.geocities.com/bioelectrochemistry/puskas.html Biodata
29. Web site: Puskás, Tivadar. www.omikk.bme.hu.
30. Web site: Biodata. https://web.archive.org/web/20081201092841/http://www.hunreal.com/hungarian-things/known-hungarians/tivadar-puskas/. usurped. 2008-12-01.
31. Web site: Sullivan . Ferenc . Hungarian Roots: US Comedy Star Louis "C. K." Székely . Hungary Today . 28 October 2022 . 2010.
32. Web site: Mansbach . S. A. . On Mattis Teutsch's Figural Style . 27 October 2022.
33. Web site: Politics and literature . June 24, 2012 . June 26, 2012. Hungarian Literature Online (HLO).
34. Book: Vladimir Tismăneanu. Vladimir Tismăneanu. Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism. 125. University of California Press. Berkeley, CA. 2003 . 0-520-23747-1.
35. Book: Julian Rubinstein . Julian Rubinstein . Ballad of the Whiskey Robber . 2004 . 0-316-01073-1 . registration .
36. Book: Mallows . Lucy . Brummell . Paul . Transylvania . 2017 . Bradt Travel Guides . 9781784770532 . 279 . 27 October 2022.
37. 7 slika Zoltan Dani. Novosadska televizija. live. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/_vFbC95quN8. YouTube. Sep 25, 2013 . 22 December 2021.
38. Web site: Rinunce e nomine. 2020-12-12. press.vatican.va.
39. News: Varga Dezső a Hírességek Csarnokában. Árpád. Jakab. 16 January 2024. Hargita Népe. ro. Miercurea Ciuc, Romania. 19 May 2024.
40. News: Székely jégkorongozó a Hírességek Csarnokában: sok szép pillanatra emlékszik vissza Varga Dezső. 19 January 2024. Krónika. hu. Cluj-Napoca, Romania. 20 May 2024.