Published: 16.3.2025
„Being Hungarian is difficult, but not hopeless.” This well-known saying, originating from the writer and adventurous world traveler Gábor Molnár, became one of the mottos of the Unbroken/Rendületlenül Award, established a few years ago by the Esély Közösség (Community of Chance) and then-MEP István Ujhelyi. The award recognizes and highlights exemplary Hungarian compatriots who, even far from their homeland, work tirelessly and selflessly to create a home for members of the Hungarian community or, in some cases, for the broader local community beyond it.
Over the past years, four individuals have been honored with the Unbroken/Rendületlenül Award: Ildikó „Indy” Mair, a tireless leader of the Hungarian community in Scotland; Attila Gáspárik, director of the National Theatre of Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureș); Viktor Traski, a lecturer at Uzhhorod National University and a Transcarpathian Hungarian father who volunteered for military service on the Ukrainian front; and Lajos Ódor, an economist and former Prime Minister of Slovakia, who played a key role in community-building efforts.
This year, the award is given posthumously to Nóra Pálmai, former secretary of the Hungarian Academy in Rome, who later transitioned from the academic world to the arts. She became the founder and leader of the „Atelier de couture magique” (Magical Sewing Workshop), which operated for seven years in one of the historic buildings of Rouge Cloître in Brussels. Through her work, she became the beloved heart of the local community.
Over the years, Nóra engaged with nearly a hundred families through embroidery and sewing courses for children. The Magical Sewing Workshop became a shared intellectual refuge and a nurturing home not only for local Hungarians but also for people of many other nationalities. After her success in academia, thanks to her unwavering diligence and humility, Nóra quickly achieved outstanding results in the world of patchwork. Together with her small community and students, she twice won first prize at a prestigious festival in England. Another extraordinary achievement—one that, tragically, she did not live to see—was that her students crafted one of the official costumes for Manneken Pis, the iconic symbol of Brussels. This outfit, a hunting attire inspired by Charles V, was created for the anniversary of Auderghem, the municipality where the sewing workshop was based.
Nóra Pálmai was an extraordinary individual and an exemplary community builder. She was a true homemaker, in the deepest sense of the word. The cruel injustice of fate cut short her voluntary mission. Yet her memory and legacy live on, not only in the hearts of her loving family but also within the small Belgian community she nurtured.
It is an honor for us to dedicate the 2025 Unbroken/Rendületlenül Award to her memory.
Esély Közösség / Community of Chance
Brussels – March 15, 2025