| Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen | |
| Awarded By: | President of Hungary |
| Type: | State decoration |
| Eligibility: | Awarded in recognition of the most special merits, outstanding life's work and significant international achievements in the service of Hungary. |
| Status: | Currently constituted |
| First Induction: | 2013 |
| Higher: | none |
| Lower: | Hungarian Corvin Chain |
| Image Size2: | 120 |
| Motto: | Publicum meritorum praemium (Award for public service) |
The Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen (Hungarian: Magyar Szent István Rend) is the highest state honour bestowed by the President of Hungary. The order is made up of one grade and is awarded in recognition of the most special merits, outstanding life's work and significant international achievements in the service of Hungary. A maximum of 3 awards are permitted to be awarded to Hungarians per year.[1]
The order's origins can be traced back to an order of chivalry founded in 1764 by Queen Maria Theresa which lasted upon the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918. The order was subsequently revived in 1938 following a decree by Hungary's Regent Miklós Horthy, thereby renaming the order as the Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen (German: Königlich Ungarischer Sankt-Stephans-Orden, Latin: Ordo Equitum Sancti Stephani Regis (Hungariae) Apostolici) and acting as its Grand Master. Following the proclamation of the Second Hungarian Republic in 1946, the order was terminated. Finally, in 2011, the order was revived by Presidential decree as the Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen.[2] [3] [4]
The insignia included in the presentation box, from left-to-right & top-to-bottom, feature:
| Year | Name | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Ferenc Krausz | Hungarian physicist awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics. | |
| 2023 | Sándor Csányi | Hungarian billionaire businessman and banker. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of OTP Bank Group[5] | |
| Áron Szilágyi | Hungarian right-handed sabre fencer. He is a three-time individual Olympic champion and 2021 team Olympic bronze medalist.[6] | ||
| Katalin Karikó | Hungarian-American biochemist who won also the Széchenyi Prize in 2021.[7] As a result of her pioneering work, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023, along with American immunologist Drew Weissman.[8] | ||
| 2022 | Ferenc Rofusz | Hungarian animator. He is known for the 1980 Academy Award-winning animated short The Fly. | |
| Erika Miklósa | Hungarian coloratura soprano. | ||
| Katalin Novák | President of Hungary. According to the Constitution of Hungary's CCII/2011 law the president of Hungary receives the Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen ex-officio. | ||
| 2021 | László Lovász | Hungarian mathematician and professor emeritus at Eötvös Loránd University, best known for his work in combinatorics. Kyoto Prize 2010, Abel Prize 2021[9] | |
| Szilveszter E. Vizi | Hungarian physician, neuroscientist, pharmacologist and university professor who served as President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences between 2002 and 2008. | ||
| 2020 | Endre Szemerédi | Hungarian-American mathematician and computer scientist, working in the field of combinatorics and theoretical computer science.[10] | |
| 2019 | Botond Roska | Hungarian neurobiologist. He and his team discovered the basic principles of visual information processing and the development of therapeutic strategies, such as gene therapy, to restore vision in retinal disorders.[11] [12] [13] | |
| 2018 | Paul Demeny | Hungarian demographer. He invented the concept of the Demeny voting system.[14] | |
| 2017 | Tamás Vásáry | Hungarian concert pianist and conductor. He was the artistic director of the Royal Northern Sinfonia from 1979 to 1982, sharing the post with Iván Fischer. He was later Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, from 1989 to 1997. Between 1993 and 2004: Principal Conductor of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.[15] | |
| Péter Erdő | Hungarian cardinal, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest professor and former rector of the Pázmány Péter Catholic University. | ||
| 2016 | Ádám Makkai | Two-time recipient of the Kossuth Prize, poet, linguist, translator, retired professor emeritus of the University of Illinois.[16] | |
| Éva Marton | Hungarian dramatic soprano, known for her operatic portrayals of Puccini's Turandot and Tosca, and Wagnerian roles. | ||
| 2015 | Péter Eötvös | Hungarian composer and conductor.[17] | |
| Judit Polgár | Hungarian chess grandmaster. | ||
| 2014 | Ernő Rubik | Hungarian inventor, architect and professor of architecture. He is best known for the invention of mechanical puzzles including Rubik's Cube (1974), Rubik's Magic,, and Rubik's Snake.[18] | |
| Hungarian author, Holocaust concentration camp survivor, and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature.[19] | |||
| 2013 | Alexandre Lamfalussy | Hungarian-born Belgian economist and central banker. | |
| Krisztina Egerszegi | Hungarian former world record holding swimmer. She is a three-time Olympian (1988, 1992 and 1996) and five-time Olympic champion. | ||
| 2012 | János Áder | President of Hungary. According to the Constitution of Hungary's CCII/2011 law the president of Hungary receives the Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen ex-officio. |