 The Author with Peggy King Anderson in front of the Consulate of Hungary’s Coat of Arms  Cover of The Fall of the Red Star  The Szablya Family after their escape from Hungary in 1956 |
BiographyIt is nearly impossible to separate the life of Helen Szablya from her work. Dedicated to promoting freedom from institutions that repress, this award-winning journalist has passionately written and lectured on the subject of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Such dedication has led to her listing in publications such as Marquis Who's Who, Who's Who of Women, Foremost Women of the Twentieth Century, and The International Book of Honor, and, ultimately, to becoming the first Hungarian Honorary Consul of the Pacific Northwest in 1993. Born and raised in Budapest, Hungary, Helen (Ilona) is an award-winning author, columnist, translator, lecturer, and former publisher of Hungary International, a newsletter for Americans about business in Hungary. She has two university degrees, speaks six languages, and lived in five countries under seven different political systems. The number of her English language publications exceeds 700, many of which won awards. She and her husband have a translation and consulting agency: Szablya Consultants, Inc. Helen was President of the Washington Press Association and received its highest award, that of the "Communicator of Achievement". The National Federation of Press Women awarded her with a National First Prize for Editorials and the First Affiliate Presidents Award in 1988. Helen was project director and co-author, with her daughter-in-law, Marcey Painter Szablya, of Hungary Remembered, an oral history drama/ Helen translated Hungary Remembered into Hungarian “Emlékezünk” and it was performed in Hungarian also. Two years later she translated and collaborated on the English language edition of Mind Twisters by Ernest Tottosy, a nonfiction account of brainwashing in the Communist Hungary of the 1950s. Her book The Fall of the Red Star is about an illegal Boy Scout troop during the 1956 uprising. The book was published in Hungarian, translated by Helen, by Holnap Kiadó under the title A vörös csillag lehull, and was exhibited at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1999 when Hungary was the honored guest. Awards Washington Press Association Communicator of Excellence Award - 1988 Bank Street College Book of The Year - 1996 Washingon Press Association Juvenile Book Fiction Award - 1995 National Federation of Press Women Juvenile Book Fiction Award - 1996 NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People - 1997 Helen is listed with Marquis Who's Who in America and several other biographies. She has been awarded the Jozsef Antall Memorial Medal for Outstanding Service to Hungary, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs awarded her with a “Pro Auxilio Civium Hungarorum” medal. Helen Szablya and her husband John, who is Professor Emeritus of Washington State University, and an outside member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences live in Kirkland WA (a suburb of Seattle). The couple has presented many hundreds of lectures on Hungary. They coauthored papers in the areas of energy affecting human culture and on translating/ Helen M. (Ilona) Szablya is the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Hungary for the States of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho based in Seattle. She and her husband were instrumental in establishing the Honorary Consulate after Hungary became free in 1990. Please visit Helen's Web site at www.szablya.com |
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