November 19, 2008

George Washington Awards Gala - American Hungarian Foundation Honors Richard Holbrooke, István Szabó and Laszlo Bodak
 

On November 19, the American Hungarian Foundation (AHF) held its 46^th Annual Dinner and Presentation of the George Washington Awards at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. This year’s award honorees were engineer and entrepreneur László Bodák, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, and Oscar-winning Hungarian movie director István Szabó.
 

The gala was opened by the evening’s Master of Ceremonies, Dr. Zsolt Harsányi, Chairman of the Board of the American Hungarian Foundation who delivered welcoming remarks. Following the anthems of Hungary and the United States, Rev. Dr. Joseph G. Bodnar from New Brunswick gave the invocation. The President of AHF, Professor August J. Molnar gave a speech titled "Our legacy and the Foundation," in which he described the Foundation’s origins, its current projects and its need for more support from the community.
 

In his greetings, Ambassador of Hungary Ferenc Somogyi commended the contribution of the Foundation to the development of U.S.-Hungarian relations and to preserving the Hungarian culture in the United States. He furthermore expressed his admiration for the outstanding honorees of the George Washington Awards.
 

The MC of the evening opened the presentation of the George Washington Awards. Each honoree was introduced by a friend or relative and then the honoree gave an acceptance speech. The tribute honoring the first award recipient, Laszlo Bodak, President of Laszlo Bodak Engineer, P.C., was presented by his long-time friend, Bernard D. Stollman, Director of Construction at Solow Realty & Development Company, LLC. The second honoree, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Vice-Chairman of Perseus, LLC, and former U.S. Ambassador to Germany and the U.N., was introduced by his wife, Hungarian-born journalist Kati Marton. In his acceptance speech, Holbrooke expressed his deep affection for Hungary and Hungarians. The third George Washington Award honoree was Oscar-winning film director István Szabó, presented by Robert Halmi, Sr., Chairman of RHI Entertainment. István Szabó, in his moving speech, talked about his fatal love for Hungary.
 

The evening was attended by Ambassador Ferenc Somogyi and Mrs. Andrea Bors Somogyi, former President of the Hungarian Academy of Science Szilveszter E. Vizi and Mrs. Vizi, the Board members of the Foundation, past award honorees, distinguished members of the Hungarian American community, Hungarian diplomats working at the Consulate General in New York and the Embassy of Hungary in Washington DC, as well as representatives of the Hungarian and Hungarian-American media.
 

Photos by Steve Goodman (goodmanphoto.photoreflect.com), Andrea Bors Somogyi and Zoltán Fehér, courtesy of the American Hungarian Foundation and the Embassy of Hungary.