KINCS awarded literary and scientific works

Written on 05 July 2022.

The Maria Kopp Institute for Demography and Families (KINCS) awarded the works of the literary and scientific application entitled “Our Common Treasures - family, community, mental health”.

Ágnes Hornung, State Secretary for Families of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM) emphasized at the event: "Thinking about families together and our response to this is not only an important issue in our personal lives, but it is our political compass as well. The strong and clear belief of the civilian government is that our treasures are the Hungarian families". "If there is family, there is a Hungarian future," the State Secretary stressed.

On the occasion of the Maria Kopp Year, hundreds of applications were submitted, 103 of them were finalists, and 20 applications were submitted in the field of family science. Tünde Fűrész, President of KINCS, said that the first three works were awarded in both categories and several special prizes were awarded.

The President of the Maria Kopp Institute also spoke about the interconnectedness of family issues, culture and science, as well as in the new Ministry of Culture and Innovation. The literary works have confirmed that the protection of families has a very strong cultural embeddedness in our country, she added. Tünde Fűrész thanked the applicants that they showed by their works: family, community and mental health are the treasures of all of us.

The president of the jury was Petra Aczél, professor at Corvinus University of Budapest. Erzsébet Schäffer, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Tamás Krúdy journalist, Ágnes Engler, Vice-President of KINCS, and György Purebl, Director of Semmelweis University's Institute of Behavioral Sciences evaluated the literary works.

Petra Aczél said that the application sought to answer the same question as Mária Kopp and her husband Árpád Skrabski did in the nineties: what makes us happy? The professor emphasized that the award-winning writings guide us to our families, our treasures, in other words, to the finding of happiness.

Journalist Tamás Krúdy said that based on literary works, Hungarian society is full of love, self-sacrifice, self-consciousness, a sense of belonging and problems can be overcome. The family and the nation are protective factors for the individual, and the Hungarian nation remains the most family-friendly nation in the European Union, he emphasized.

Ágnes Engler said that reading the applications was a special experience for the members of the jury. The Vice President of KINCS stressed that the applicants came from many different disciplines, which indicates that the family occupies a central place in all areas of scientific life.

The winners of the application are:

Literary Award:

1st place: Erika Békési - “My Treasures, Who Are You?”
2nd place: Ágnes Tóth-Haraszti - "Since I Had a Baby"
3rd place: Kornélia Párkányi "Moments of Grace" 

Literary special prizes:

Mother's Prize: Anna Jilg-Keresztúri - "Leó"
Father's special award: Nándor Török - “Being a Parent”
Grandparent special award: Márta Várnagy – “Eye surgery”, “Grandparenting at Basic Level”
Young Special Prize: Gergő Kovács - "Always with Me"

Scientific Award:

1st place: Szidónia Rusu - Emese Vita - "Hungarian Doctoral Students from Transylvania on the Paths of Professional and Private Happiness"
2nd place: Rita Jakobiné Görgőy - 'Sociological Aspect of Divorce'
3rd place: Borbála Oroszi - “Building of Sacred and Happy Hungarian Families: Accession Stories, Identity Narratives - Religious Anthropology of the Hungarian Schönstatt Movement”