The Myth of Hungarian Being a "Minor" Language

*Edited on December 31st, 2021 with the addition of more famous Hungarian speakers, raising the number to 121

**Edited again on January 15th, 2022 with the addition of more famous Hungarian speakers, raising the number to 160

***Edited again on January 31st, 2022 with the addition of more famous Hungarian speakers, raising the number to 216

****Edited again on February 19th, 2022 with the addition of more famous Hungarian speakers, raising the number to 250

*****Edited again on April 6th, 2023 with the addition of more famous Hungarian speakers, raising the number to 260

Those who know me know that I'm a Magyarophile. No matter how many times I exalt some other nation I love (usually Belarus or Kalmykia), or express my devotion to a historical state I admire such as the Crimean Khanate or Great Qing Empire, Hungary always remains my favorite and their language the one I love most. I started learning Hungarian on my own when I was 12 years old and living in Michigan. My interest started when I received a book from my mom called Vampyre - The Terrifying Lost Journal Of Dr. Cornelius Van Helsing. This book contained several sections with Hungarian phrases as well as details on Hungarian folklore and history (such as the tale of Erzsébet Báthory and the Fekete Hadsereg of King Matyás Korvin) and overall was my first exposure to Hungary. Ever since I got that book I started learning Hungarian on my own and in 2018 at the age of 21 I finally reached the B2 level after passing the final exam at Pécsi Tudományegyetem. Sadly I've been stuck at B2 ever since, but I'll never give up until I get a C2 and complete mastery of my favorite language.

Nevertheless, one of the things I find most annoying while learning Hungarian is how often people in general call it a "minor" language. I find the label infuriating when applied to Hungarian, especially because it's huge compared to most of the other languages I'm learning; Belarusian (3-9 million speakers), Estonian (1.5 million), Kalmyk (80,000-500,000), Manchu (10 natives and maybe a million non-natives at most), Crimean Tatar (540,000 at most), Guarani (8 million), and Erzya (maybe 330,000) are all small compared to Hungarian (13-16 million). This idea that Hungarian is "minor" is annoyingly common even among Hungarians themselves. It's probably the main reason I have to put up with Hungarians speaking to me in English here in Budapest even though I've been learning their language for 12 years and constantly wear nationalistic outfits and a mask with the Hungarian flag to show that I'm willing to speak Hungarian. On top of that Hungarian used to be the language of a Great Power and its lexicon has contributed obvious words across the world (most famously "paprika"). I've also used it in places outside of Hungary; every time I visit Austria I usually get by with just Hungarian since I don't know German. Such a convenience shouldn't be possible with a "minor" language.

Still, I have to deal with this myth of Hungarian being a "minor" language being constantly shoved in my face. This attitude is the reason Hungarian lessons in Japan are both rare and extremely expensive while lessons for languages I have no interest in that are nonetheless considered "major" (the big Romance languages, German, Mandarin) are both common and cheap. There are approximately 7100 languages on this planet (even more if extinct languages, conlangs, and all dialects are counted as languages) and although the total number of Hungarian speakers isn't precisely known, when ranked alongside every other language in number of speakers, Hungarian's position is, depending on the criteria used to determine the status of other languages, anywhere between 66 and 78, which would put it in the top 1% of languages or just below it, thus making it a "major" language. Despite this objective reality, Hungarian is rarely considered a major language. A consequence of this is the dissatisfaction I have with my MA program, as during the beginning of my MA I was denied Hungarian lessons I explicitly stated I would take in my scholarship application form by an outrageous double standard wherein the administration enforced a system where only beginner level lessons would be provided for Hungarian even though they allowed multiple levels for Russian and Polish (this program, despite focusing on geopolitics in a region that by my count has over 240 languages, only offers 4 languages as options for mandatory lessons: Hungarian, Russian, Polish, Czech) because they think Hungarian "isn't commonly learned" and that reasoning was a direct detriment to me. Since the program ostensibly has language acquisition as a goal, it would have been far more logical to push me to improve my B2 Hungarian instead of forcing upon me a language I have little motivation for. They claimed "economic" reasons as well, which is just as absurd, for reasons I'll explain below.

History shows that there were MANY non-Magyars who mastered this language or at least put in the effort to learn it (so much for Hungarian being a "rare" language as many people like to claim). To prove this, I compiled a list of 260 such famous individuals (if I were to include my own friends, personal acquaintances, or people whom I've interacted with, I could possibly double that number). As far as I'm concerned, a "minor" language would be one with under a million native speakers, no official status in any sovereign state, endangered or vulnerable status, and is so rarely studied by non-natives that I wouldn't be able to name even a dozen prominent people who've learned it (though exceptions exist such as Manchu, for which I can name 30). The fact that I could find 260 for Hungarian, spread across the world and throughout history, should demonstrate just how significant it is as a language and why it shouldn't be considered "minor" nor economically disadvantageous to teach.

Prominent non-native Hungarian speakers throughout history:

Barry Farber (1930-2020; American; Conservative radio talk show host and author; language enthusiast who described himself as "dating" languages when he spoke them without mastering the grammar or script and "marrying" ones he attained fluency in; in addition to English he studied throughout his life Bengali, Latin, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Mandarin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Swedish, Yiddish, Bulgarian, Korean, and Albanian; he used his Hungarian skills to assist the US Air Force in airlifting Hungarian refugees in 1956 and used his Norwegian skills to assist a Norwegian in smuggling Hungarian refugees into Austria)

Naum Isaevich Grebnev (1921-1988; Russian Jew; Born in Harbin and served in World War II in the Red Army; became a translator of poems after the war, specializing in folk and classical poetry; has translated poems from Abkhaz, Hungarian, Circassian, Kalmyk, Kyrgyz, Mongolian, Tatar, Avar, Chechen, Hebrew, Georgian, Ossetian, and other languages)

Jonathan Knott (?- ; British; British Ambassador to Hungary from 2012 to 2015; speaks English, French, Spanish, and Hungarian)

Arika Okrent (?-; American; Linguist born in Chicago who specializes in conlangs; taught in Hungary; speaks Hungarian, English, Esperanto, and Klingon)

Valery Leonidovich Musatov (1941-; Russian; Soviet diplomat who worked at the Soviet Embassy in Hungary from 1973 to 1984; Russian Ambassador to Hungary from 2000 to 2006; speaks Russian, Hungarian, English, and Arabic)

Bryan Cartledge (1931- ; British; Former diplomat and academic; British ambassador to Hungary from 1980 to 1983; has Hungarian language diplomas from the University of Westminster and Debreceni Egyetem)

Vasyl Mikolajovyč Hadžega (1863-1938; Rusyn; Theologian and historian who studied in Ungvár, Budapest, and Vienna; served as canon of the Munkács diocese; published multiple theological treatises in Latin and Hungarian)

Leonard Appleyard (1938-2020; British; Diplomat who served in China and Hungary; spoke English, Mandarin, Russian, Hungarian, and French)

Robert Austerlitz (1923-1994; Romanian-American; Linguist born in Bucharest who emigrated to the US in 1938; studied Uralic and Altaic languages at the University of Helsinki from 1951 to 1953 and Nivkh and Hokkaido Ainu at the University of Tokyo from 1953 to 1954; conducted research on the Nivkh, Orok, and Ainu languages; conducted fieldwork on the Eyak language; researched Hungarian with funding from Indiana University)

Aliena Mikalaiewna Kupyčna (1965-; Belarusian; Belarusian Ambassador to Hungary from 2006 to 2012; assisted in the publication of the first Hungarian-Belarusian dictionary)

Bekir Sıtkı Çobanzade (1893-1937; Crimean Tatar; Turkologist and preeminent Crimean Tatar poet; fought in the Imperial Russian Army against Austria-Hungary during World War I but was captured by Hungarians, who allowed him to study at Pázmány Péter University; studied Hungarian, Arabic, and Turkish philology and analyzed the Codex Cumanicus while in Hungary; returned to Crimea in 1920 to teach Crimean Tatar)

Yevdokiya Ivanovna Rombandeeva (1928-2017; Mansi; Mansi language specialist and author of the first Mansi-Russian and Russian-Mansi dictionary; befriended Hungarian linguist György Lakó and learned Hungarian to keep in touch with him)

Bernard Le Calloc’h (1925-; Breton; Student of Aurélien Sauvageot; lived in Hungary from 1947 to 1953; served in the diplomatic service in Paris and retired from the Senate as a foreign affairs adviser; published works in French, English, German, Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian and Russian)

Aatqall Taúaa (1949-; Iraqi; Artist and novelist who worked as a sculptor for the Iraqi Radio and Television Establishment; left Iraq for Hungary in 1979 to escape persecution from Saddam Hussein; learned Hungarian and defended her doctoral thesis at the Academy of Sciences in Hungary)

Božena Slančíková (1867-1951; Slovak; Novelist and playwright better known by the pen name Timrava; studied German and Hungarian at Besztercebánya in 1881-1882)

Terézia Vansová (1857-1942; Slovak; Pioneering Slovak female writer and editor during the period of realism; wrote poetry in German and Slovak but was also fluent in Hungarian from reading; founded the first Slovak women's journal Dennica)

Lucreția Suciu-Rudow (1859-1900; Romanian; Born to a family that was acquainted with Romanian intellectuals; knew French, German, and Hungarian from a young age; became a renowned poet)

Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547; Pole; Queen of Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary and Archduchess of Austria as the wife of King Ferdinand I; spoke Hungarian, Czech, Latin, and German; born in Buda)

Gül Baba (?-1541; Turk; 16th Century Ottoman poet entombed in Budapest)

Rudolf Chmel (1939-; Slovak; Last Czechoslovak Ambassador to Hungary; Most-Híd official; speaks Czech, Slovak, Russian, Hungarian, Polish, and German)

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943; Serbian-American; Preeminent scientist of the 20th Century; spoke Serbo-Croatian, Czech, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, and Latin)

Emil Krebs (1867-1930; German; Eminent Polyglot with a confirmed record of mastering 68 languages including but not limited to Hungarian, Estonian, Manchu, Buryat, Ainu, Nivkh, and Burmese)

Dušan Stevanović (1945-; Serb; Born in Belgrade, moved to Hungary at age 3; musician and playwright and winner of the Kossuth Prize)

Zoran Stevanović (1942-; Serb; Brother of Dušan Stevanović; formed a band in Hungary in 1960; received the Franz Liszt Prize from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in 1982)

Franz Herzog (1863-1954; German; Learned Hungarian as an adolescent in Temesvár; nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times; promoted conservative nationalist opinions)

Julia Apraxin (1830-1913; Russian; Raised in Vienna until parents' divorce led to mother marrying a Hungarian noble and consequently a new life in Hungary)

Giuseppe Gasparo Mezzofanti (1774–1849; Italian; Cardinal and Vatican official; mastered at least 30 languages including but not limited to Hungarian, Maltese, Algonquin, Basque, Latin, Amharic, and Armenian)

Adam František Kollár (1718–1783; Slovak; Coined the term "ethnology"; Imperial-Royal Court Councillor for Maria Theresa; spoke Slovak, Czech, Serbian, Polish, Rusyn, Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, German, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Turkish, Chinese, Persian, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, French, Dutch, and English)

Dositej Obradović (1739–1811; Serb; Writer, dramatist, monk; first Minister of Education of Serbia; knew Serbian, Church Slavonic, Russian, German, French, Italian, English, Greek, Albanian, Latin, Turkish, Hungarian, and Romanian)

Matija Čop (1797-1835; Slovene; Linguist and writer; mastered 19 languages and thus seen as the most erudite Slovene of his time; knew Slovene, Latin, ancient Greek, German, English, French, Italian, Serbian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Occitan and Hebrew)

João Guimarães Rosa (1908–1967; Brazilian; Novelist who taught himself Hungarian; studied Hungarian grammar alongside that of Arabic, Sanskrit, Lithuanian, Polish, Tupi, Hebrew, Japanese, Czech, Finnish, and Danish)

Jovan Rajić (1726–1801; Serb; Writer and pedagogue who translated several Hungarian works into Serbian; knew Serbian, German, Hungarian, Latin, Italian, and Romanian)

Georg Sauerwein (1831-1904; German; Publisher and eminent Polyglot who mastered around 75 languages, including but not limited to Hungarian, Estonian, Belarusian, Chuvash, Sanskrit, Latvian, Finnish, Cornish, Latin, Georgian, Hawaiian, Samoan, and Scots Gaelic)

Jovan Damjanić (1804-1849; Serb; Fought for the Hungarian side during the Revolution of 1848; executed at Arad where his last words were "Long Live Hungary")

Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu (1968-; Romanian; Former Prime Minister of Romania; notably NOT from a Hungarian majority region or even a historically Hungarian area)

Iuliu Maniu (1873-1953; Romanian; Prime Minister of Romania in Interwar period; grew up in Transylvania under Hungarian rule)

Avgustyn Voloshyn (1874-1945; Ukrainian; Leader of the breakaway state of Carpatho-Ukraine; studied in Hungarian religious schools and universities)

Franz Joseph I of Austria (1830–1916; Austrian; Habsburg Monarch; was fluent in at least German, Hungarian, Czech, Polish, and Italian)

Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837–1898; Bavarian; Learned Hungarian on her own initiative; influential in turning the Austrian Empire into the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy)

Gerald Murnane (1939-; Australian; Taught himself Hungarian after reading Gyula Illyés' People of the Puszta)

Rudolf Schuster (1934-; Slovak; Second President of Slovakia; speaks Slovak, Czech, German, Russian, English, and Hungarian)

Ľudovít Štúr (1815–1856; Slovak; Major figure in Slovak national awakening; member of Hungarian Parliament)

Ernest Niżałowski (1915-2014; Pole; Polish soldier and Polish-Hungarian interpreter; born in Budapest)

Eva Grlić (1920–2008; Croatian Jew; Writer and journalist who was born in Budapest and spoke Ladino natively but learned Hungarian and Bosnian from a young age)

Isidor "Izzy" Einstein (1880–1938; American Jew; Grew up speaking Yiddish and learned Hungarian before emigrating from Austria-Hungary; achieved the most arrests and convictions during the first years of the Alcohol Prohibition era)

John F. Huenergardt (1875–1955; German-American; Seventh-day Adventist Minister; learned Hungarian to become a superintendent of the Hungarian and Balkan States Mission Field)

Simon Ungar (1864–1942; Jew; Spoke Yiddish natively and learned Hungarian in childhood; served as a Rabbi in Osijek)

Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside (1880–1959; British; Senior officer of the British Army, who served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff at the start of World War II; learned Hungarian as a junior officer)

Anne Tardos (1943-; French; Lived in Hungary until 1956 Revolution; poet and academic)

Michael Weiß (1569–1612; Transylvanian Saxon; Learned Hungarian in school; became mayor of Brassó)

Robert Seton-Watson (1879–1951; British; Historian and politician who advocated the destruction of Austria-Hungary; originally a Magyarophile but turned against Hungary after learning Hungarian and switched his sympathies towards Slavs in the Kingdom of Hungary)

Mykhaylo Koman (1928–2015; Rusyn; Athlete for FC Dynamo Kyiv who learned Hungarian at a young age)

Uku Masing (1909–1985; Estonian; Prominent poet, Righteous Among the Nations, and expert on Semitic languages who spoke around 40 languages)

Orest Klympush (1941-; Ukrainian; Former Ambassador of Ukraine to Hungary; selected for his Hungarian language skills)

Anneli Aarika-Szrok (1924-; Finn; Opera singer and former soloist of the Hungarian State Opera)

Alicja Sakaguchi (1954-; Pole; Esperantist who studied Hungarian and Esperanto at ELTE)

Lytkin Illya Vas (1895-1981; Komi; Linguist who published more than 300 studies and scientific articles in 5 languages, including Komi and Hungarian)

Yevgenij Arnoldovich Helimskij (1950-2007; Russian; Linguist specializing in Samoyedic languages; published a book comparing them to Hungarian)

Han Soo-yeon (1983-; Korean; Actress who grew up in Budapest and studied singing there)

Steven Dick (1982–2020; British; Diplomat working for the British Embassy in Budapest who studied Hungarian at Pécs)

Saimi Hoyer (1974-; Finn; Model who studied Hungarian at the University of Jyväskylä)

Tadashi Iijima (1902–1996; Japanese; Noted film critic and professor at Waseda University who studied Hungarian out of self-interest)

Michael Branch (1940–2019; British; Linguist who specialized in Uralic languages; learned Hungarian at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London)

Jörmundur Ingi Hansen (1940-; Icelander; Neopagan leader who studied Hungarian at the University of Iceland presumably to explore Hungarian neo-paganism)

David Samoylov (1920-1990; Russian Jew; War poet and translator who translated literature from Hungarian to Russian)

Anton Durcovici (1888–1951; Romanian; Prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and the Bishop of Iaşi until his death; mastered Hungarian for religious reasons)

Mihai Tänzer (1905–1993; Danube Swabian; Athlete who played for the Hungarian team Ferencváros)

Köten (?-1241; Cuman; Khan of the Cumans who sought refuge in Hungary to escape the Mongol Empire)

İbrahim Peçevi (1572–1650; Bosnian; Ottoman historian born in Pécs most famous for his historical works on the Ottoman Empire and for being one of the first Ottoman historians who made references to European sources, especially Hungarian ones)

Phan Bích Thiện (1968-; Vietnamese; Businesswoman and poet; president of the Vietnamese Women's Association in Hungary; translated several Hungarian poems into Vietnamese)

Tatjana Poska-Laaman (1900-1988; Estonian; Jurist who studied Hungarian at ELTE)

Louis-Charles Damais (1911-1966; French; Researcher at the French School of the Far East who learned Hungarian as well as Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Malay, Chinese, Dutch, English, Russian, Italian, Sanskrit, and Javanese)

Otto von Habsburg (1912–2011; Austrian; Last crown prince of Austria-Hungary; spoke German, Hungarian, Croatian, English, Spanish, French and Latin fluently; wrote forty books in German, Hungarian, French and Spanish)

Count Ivan III Drašković (1603 – 1648; Croat; Warrior and statesman who served as Palatine of Hungary and married a Hungarian countess)

Sir Francis Ralph Hay Murray (1908–1983; British; Journalist, radio broadcaster, and diplomat who spoke French, German, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Hungarian and some Russian)

Adolf von Boog (1866-1929; Austrian; Army officer who served in World War I and spoke fluent German and Italian, along with some Czech, Hungarian, and Bosnian)

Ivan Mažuranić (1814-1890; Croat; Poet and Ban of Croatia-Slavonia; spoke Croatian, Latin, Italian, German, Hungarian, French, English, Czech, and Polish)

István Varró (?-1770; Cuman; Traditionally regarded as the last speaker of the Cuman language; lived in historical Cumania within Hungary)

Emil Baleczky (1919-1981; Rusyn; Fluent in Hungarian from childhood due to growing up near the Hungarian border and was even mobilized into the Royal Hungarian Army; published several works on the Rusyn language in Hungary)

Ramil Safarov (1977- ; Azerbaijani; Officer of the Azerbaijani Army and convicted murderer who translated several Hungarian novels into Azerbaijani while imprisoned in Budapest)

Bohdan Zadura (1945-; Pole; Poet and translator who has translated poetry from English, Ukrainian, and Hungarian)

Aino Pervik (1931-; Estonian; Children's writer and translator who has been a freelance writer/translator in Hungarian since 1967)

Rami Saari (1963-; Israeli; Studied Semitic and Uralic languages at universities in Helsinki, Budapest, and Jerusalem; translated multiple books of prose and poetry into Hungarian, Estonian, Finnish, and other languages)

Benedikt Vinković (1581-1642; Croat; Prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Pécs and Archbishop of Zagreb and used Croatian, Latin, and Hungarian in correspondence)

Eric Johnson (1937-2004; American; Ballet dancer and poet who traveled to Hungary to find György Faludy and learned Hungarian to do so)

Nikolay Boykov (1968-; Bulgarian; Translator from Hungarian who studied Hungarian philology at the University of Debrecen and taught Hungarian language and literature at Sofia University)

Yrjö Liipola (1881-1971; Finn; Sculptor, diplomat, and professor who served as the General Consul of Finland to Hungary and translated Hungarian literature into Finnish)

Victor Emanuel Öman (1833-1904; Swede; Poetic translator who translated works from Russian, Sanskrit, English, and Hungarian)

Sidonie Grünwald-Zerkowitz (1852-1907; Jew; Essayist, poet, and educator who was well-versed in German, French, Italian, Hungarian, Czech, and English from a young age and taught Hungarian history and language in Budapest and also published pedagogical articles in Hungarian)

Ekaterina Jossifowa (1941-; Bulgarian; Author and poet who translated poems from Hungarian and Albanian)

Albert Lange Fliflet (1908-2001; Norwegian; Philologist and translator best known for translating the Kalevala into Norwegian; also worked as a freelance translator from Latin, German, Finnish, Hungarian, and Dutch into Norwegian)

Joakim Vujić (1772-1847; Serb; Actor, traveler, and dramatist known as the Father of Serbian Theater; spoke Serbian, Italian, German, Latin, Greek, French, English, Hebrew, and Hungarian)

Izidor Cankar (1886-1958; Slovene; Art historian and diplomat who served as Yugoslav Ambassador to Argentina and Greece; spoke Croatian, German, and Hungarian from a young age alongside Slovene)

Crìsdean MacIlleBhàin (1952-; Scottish; Critic of Scottish and international literature and Scots Gaelic poet; translated At the End of the Broken Bridge from Hungarian to English)

Peter Brock (1920-2006; Canadian; Historian who learned Hungarian to access primary sources and reportedly downplayed his ability in the language)

Sava Babić (1934-2012; Serb; Writer and professor who studied at a Hungarian school after the Hungarian Invasion of 1941; founded the Department of Hungarian Language and Literature at the University of Belgrade in 1993; attempted to facilitate reconciliation between Serbs and Hungarians)

Alojz Gradnik (1882–1967; Slovene; Poet and translator who translated the works of Sándor Petőfi into Slovene; was fluent in Slovene, Latin, Ancient Greek, Italian, Friulian, German, Serbo-Croatian, English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Hungarian; studied Sanskrit, Persian, Bengali, and Mandarin)

Eduard Vodnařík (1837-1917; Moravian; Civil servant and translator from Hungarian to Czech who wrote the first Hungarian grammar in Czech)

Umberto Albini (1923-2011; Italian; Hellenist, classical philologist, and Professor Emeritus of the University of Genoa; translated multiple Hungarian works into Italian and received an honorary degree from Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem as well as a gold medal from the Hungarian government)

Watson Kirkconnell (1895-1977; Canadian; Scholar who translated national poetry from Hungarian, Ukrainian, Russian, and Serbo-Croatian; noteworthy for translating János Arany's A walesi bárdok)

Edwin Morgan (1920-2010; Scottish; Poet associated with the Scottish Renaissance who became the first Scottish national poet; translated from Russian, French, Italian, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Old English, and Hungarian)

Ivan Ivanji (1929-; Serbian Jew; Holocaust Survivor who grew up in Serbian Banat and learned Hungarian and German in childhood; translated Hungarian works into Serbian)

Barbara Frischmuth (1941-; Austrian; Writer and translator who passed a specialist examination for Hungarian translation in 1964 and translated the novel Saulus by Miklós Mészöly)

Aurélien Sauvageot (1897–1988; French; Linguist who specialized in Finno-Ugric languages, taught French in Budapest, completed a doctoral thesis on the lexicon of Ural-Altaic languages, and co-published the first Hungarian-French and French-Hungarian dictionary)

Leonid Pervomayskiy (1908-1973; Ukrainian Jew; Poet and translator and winner of the Stalin Prize for literature in 1946; translated works of Sándor Petőfi into Ukrainian)

Charles de Bigault de Casanove (1847-1910; French; Scholar and translator who specialized in Hungarian literature)

Jeremiah Curtin (1835-1906; American; Ethnographer and folklorist employed by the Bureau of American Ethnology who studied Russian, Czech, Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Turkish, and Hungarian)

Mary Alice Fonda (1837-1897; American; Musician, author, and critic who was one of the original staff of writers for the magazine Musical Courie; alongside English was fluent in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Hungarian)

Eghia Hovhannesian (1885-1948; Armenian; Lawyer and writer who was active in Gödöllő writing for an Armenian diaspora newspaper and promoted Armenian culture in articles he wrote in both Armenian and Hungarian)

Marcelo Cake-Baly (1976-; Bissau-Guinean; Economist and tram driver; lead actor of the 2016 film Az állampolgár and possibly the first black star of a Hungarian movie)

Sebestyén Shakirov (1893-1966; Tatar; Born in Kazan and arrived in Hungary as a POW during World War I; converted to Unitarianism and settled in Nagybánya as a painter)

János Can Togay (1955-; Turk; Film director, screenwriter, actor, poet, and cultural diplomat born in Budapest to Turkish parents but raised in Germany; has written poems and screenplays in Hungarian and acted in Hungarian films)

Zita of Bourbon-Parma (1892-1989; Italian; Last Queen of Hungary, wife of Karl I, last Habsburg Monarch; delivered part of her coronation oath in Hungarian)

Dimitrios Hatzis (1913-1981; Greek; Communist who supported the Democratic Army of Greece in the Greek Civil War and fled to Hungary after the Left's defeat; established Greek Studies in Hungary and translated several Greek texts into Hungarian)

Abdulhamid Dakakni (1942-; Palestinian; Poet, translator, and interpreter who arrived in Hungary in 1963; married to a Hungarian)

Anastasia Razvalyaeva (1986-; Russian; Harpist who moved to Hungary in 1993)

Bahget Iskander (1943-; Syrian; Cinematographer who has been a Hungarian citizen since 1979; has held exhibitions in Hungarian, Arabic, and English)

Mikola Chviedarovič (1904-1981; Belarusian; Poet, essayist, and translator; winner of a prize from the Hungarian Agency for Literature and Art in 1981 for promoting Hungarian poetry in Belarusian)

Anatol' Vjarnicki (1931-; Belarusian; Poet, publicist, and translator; translated Hungarian poems into Belarusian)

Uladzimir Shachavjec (1918-1991; Belarusian; Writer and translator who translated Hungarian literature into Belarusian)

Tilo Werner (1969-; German; Actor and radio play speaker who learned Hungarian to perform in Hungary)

Lyubov Vasylivna Nepop (1971-; Ukrainian; Ukrainian Ambassador to Hungary since 2016; President of the Danube Commission since January 1, 2021; speaks Ukrainian, Hungarian, English, Bulgarian, Polish, Spanish and Russian)

Abdullatif Efendi (1886-1946; Turk; Born in Erzurum, learned Hungarian in order to become imam of the Muslim community in Hungary after the annexation of Bosnia in 1908 and willingly took over the guardianship of the Gül Baba tomb in Budapest)

Batbayar Zeneemyadar (?-; Mongolian; Former Mongolian Ambassador to Hungary; graduated from a law university in Hungary)

Ivan Aboimov (1936-; Russian; Former executive secretary of the Komsomol branch of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic; Soviet and Russian Ambassador to Hungary from 1990 to 1996; speaks Russian, English, German, Hungarian, and Latvian)

Ken'ichiro Kobayashi (1940-; Japanese; served as the principal conductor of the Hungarian State Symphony (now the Hungarian National Philharmonic) from 1987 to 1997, and is now conductor laureate of the orchestra; received the Liszt Memorial Decoration (1986), the Hungarian Order of Culture (1990), and the Middle Cross with the Star of the Order of the Republic of Hungary decoration (the highest civilian honor) from the Hungarian government in 1994)

Chen Guoyan (1938-; Chinese; Studied Hungarian at ELTE in 1961; served as Chinese Ambassador to Hungary from 1996 to 1999)

Loïc Négo (1991-; Guadeloupean-French; Professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Fehérvár and the Hungary national team; acquired Hungarian citizenship via naturalization in February 2019)

Zhang Yu Carolyn (?-; Chinese; Singer-songwriter based in Budapest; learned Hungarian at the University of Szeged and chose to go there because her uncle lived there; started teaching at the university's Faculty of Music in 2018; teaches Hungarian songs to Chinese students and Chinese culture to Hungarian students)

Jozef Tiso (1887-1947; Slovak; Roman Catholic priest and Fascist dictator of Slovakia; allied with Nazi Germany during World War II; launched a coup against Czechoslovakia in 1938 out of resentment towards perceived Czech chauvinism against Slovaks; knew Hungarian fluently enough that his political opponents tried to accuse him of being a Magyarized Slovak; was fluent in not only Slovak and Hungarian, but also German, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic)

Vojtech Tuka (1880-1946; Slovak; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia during World War II; originally born with the Hungarian name Béla; possibly spoke Hungarian better than Slovak, which was used against him by the Czechoslovak government; according to several witnesses, he did not speak Slovak until 1922 and was repeatedly arrested as a Hungarian nationalist)

Aszma el-Gaui (1991-; Tunisian; Female handballer and naturalized Hungarian citizen who won the 2014 African Championship and was a finalist of the Magyar Kupa in 2017)

Krisztina Triscsuk (1985-; Russian; Naturalized Hungarian citizen since 2012; handballer for Alba Fehérvár KC)

Gordan Grlić-Radman (1958-; Croat; Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the Croatian government since 2019; former Croatian Ambassador to Hungary; speaks Croatian, English, German, Bulgarian, and Hungarian)

Juraj Chmiel (1960-; Czech; Born in Budapest but studied in Bratislava; former Czech Minister of European Affairs; speaks Czech, Slovak, English, Hungarian, Russian, German, Swahili, and Amharic)

Elie Wiesel (1928-2016; Jew; Holocaust Survivor and author of Night; natively spoke Yiddish but learned Hungarian, German, and Romanian at a young age)

Simon Perris/Ali Mahmud (Senegalese or Congolese; ?-?; Came to Hungary as a boy serving a Turkish man in Budapest; worked as a porter in Navgyvárad after master's death; learned fluent Hungarian and reportedly became skillful at using insults; joined the Hungarian army at the start of World War I and became a corporal fighting against Russia; only black soldier in the Austro-Hungarian armed forces; reportedly joined the army for patriotism and to eventually marry a Hungarian girl)

Raoul Wallenberg (1912-?; Swede; Diplomat, businessman, architect, and humanitarian known for saving thousands of Jews in German-occupied Hungary during the Holocaust; learned to speak Hungarian to assist a Jewish Hungarian business partner and later used the language to aid in saving Jews)

Sava Vuković (1811-1872; Serb; Minister of Justice of Hungary in 1849; learned Hungarian in adolescence and became a Hungarian nationalist; fled Hungary after the 1848 Hungarian Revolution was crushed)

Janez Frančišek Gnidovec (1873-1939; Slovene; Bishop of Skopje and a pastor who tended to wounded Hungarian soldiers during World War I and learned Hungarian to bring them the sacraments and provide them with words of comfort)

Radu D. Rosetti (1874-1964; Romanian; writer and attorney who learned Hungarian in Brassó while studying there in high school; in 1900 his play, O lecție was performed at the National Theater in Budapest, as the first Romanian play to be performed by a Hungarian troupe.)

Sigismund of Luxembourg (1368-1437; German; King of Hungary and Croatia from 1387 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 to his death; betrothed to Hungarian princess Maria of Anjou at a young age and started learning Hungarian at the age of 10)

Francis I of Austria (1768-1835; Austrian; Last Holy Roman Emperor from 1792 to 1806 and first Emperor of Austria from 1804 to his death; joined an army regiment in Hungary; had open audiences with the public wherein he would address guests in German, Hungarian, Czech, or Italian)

Zuzana Čaputová (1973–; Slovak; Current President of Slovakia and first woman to hold the presidency; used Hungarian during her election campaign and delivered part of her inaugural speech in Hungarian, Romani, and Rusyn)

Miško Kranjec (1908-1983; Slovene; Writer who incorporated themes related to his native Prekmurje region and became a member of the Yugoslav Communist Party; spent the majority of his early childhood in Hungarian elementary schools but had difficulty speaking Hungarian throughout his life; wrote about Hungarians in his works with undisguised hatred, portraying them as aggressive, stupid, violent and domineering)

Matija Zvekanović (1913-1991; Bunjevac; First bishop of the diocese of Szabadka; completed his secondary education in Szabadka and Travnik as well as theological studies at the Sarajevo Seminary)

Lajčo Budanović (1873-1958; Bunjevac; Catholic priest and apostolic administrator of Bacska; completed primary school in Bajmok and secondary school in Szabadka and Kalocsa; ordained as a priest in 1897)

Vladimír Filo (1940-2015; Slovak; Bishop of Rožňava who served as a chaplain in southern Slovakia, often in areas with a prominent Hungarian population; appointed him auxiliary bishop of Trnava by Pope John Paul II in 1990)

Alexandru Fîntînaru (1895-1958; Romanian; One of the leaders of the National Peasant Party of Arad County, led by Iuliu Maniu; had many Hungarian acquaintances due to his excellent Hungarian skills; supported the creation of a Romanian-Hungarian confederation; executed by the Romanian state for allegedly being connected to a conspiracy against the state)

Viktor Graf von Scheuchenstuel (1857-1938; Bavarian; Colonel general in the Austro-Hungarian Army born in Vítkovice to a branch of a Bavarian noble family; served in Serbia, Albania, and Italy during World War I; regarded by the Entente Powers as a Hungarian as he spoke Hungarian on duty)

Emmerich Ritter (1952-; German; Vice-President of the National Self-Government of Germans in Hungary from 2011 to 2014; first German minority representative in Hungary since Jakob Bleyer; speaks Hungarian, German, and English)

Ladislav Chudík (1924-2015; Slovak; Actor who appeared in more than 50 films; Minister of Culture of the Slovak Republic from 1989 to 1990)

Sebastian Kräuter (1922-2008; Transylvanian Saxon; Roman Catholic bishop of the Temesvár Diocese in Romania between 1990 and 1999; ordained a priest by County Bishop Ágoston Pacha in Temesvár)

Francesco Fiorentino (?-1516; Italian; Renaissance architect and sculptor from Florence; lived in Kolozsvár from 1458 to 1469 and married the daughter of the mayor of Nagyszeben)

Maria Dorothea of ​​Württemberg (1797-1855; German; Third wife of Archduke Joseph Anton of Austria; learned Hungarian after moving to Hungary as a result of her marriage; addressed the Hungarian parliament in Hungarian in 1826; actively participated in the Hungarian Lutheran community)

Joseph Anton Johann, Archduke of Austria (1776-1847; Austrian; Palatine of Hungary until his death after being elected by the Hungarian Parliament in 1796; learned Hungarian quickly after moving there; was also fluent in German, Latin, French, and Italian; promoted cultural and economic development in Hungary; contributed to the founding of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

Joseph Karl Ludwig of Austria (1833-1905; Austrian; Son of Maria Dorothea von Württemberg and Joseph Anton Johann, Archduke of Austria; raised in Pozsony by Benedictine monks; enjoyed living in Hungary due to its large Romani population; owned an estate in Alcsút and invited Romani to settle there; became obsessed with the Romani language and published in Hungarian Czigány nyelvtan (Grammar of the Gypsy Language) in 1888; also wrote a treatise comparing Romani words to those of Sanskrit and Hindustani Persian)

Maria Dorothea of Austria (1867-1932; Austrian; Daughter of Joseph Karl Ludwig of Austria; Archduchess of Austria and Queen of France to Orléanist monarchists from 1896 to 1926; was educated in her childhood at a castle in Alcsút, where she was taught Hungarian, German, French, Italian, English, and Romani as well as some Croatian, Russian, and Latin)

Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (1861-1948; Bulgarian; Tsar of Bulgaria; spent part of his childhood in Hungarian lands; interacted with the Hungarian press in Hungarian and invited Hungarian engineers to aid in the construction of Bulgaria's railway system)

Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav (1849-1921; Slovak; One of the most important Slovak poets and a member of the Czechoslovak parliament; originally wrote in Hungarian and was a Hungarian patriot)

Imre Augustič (1837-1879; Slovene; Writer, poet, journalist and representative of the Vas county in the National Assembly of Hungary; promoted Magyarization in the Slovene regions of Hungary and translated poetry by Sándor Petőfi into Slovene, promoted literature in the Prekmurje Slovene dialect as well)

René Fülöp-Miller (1891-1963; Alsatian-Serbian; Cultural historian and writer; born in Karánsebes and wrote in Hungarian for newspapers in Budapest and Brassó and in German for newspapers in Temesvár and Nagyszeben)

Andrej Hlinka (1864-1938; Slovak; Roman Catholic priest and leading figure of the Slovak National Movement; one of the signatories of the Martin Declaration of the Slovak Nation in 1918; instrumental in the creation of the Slovak State that formed two months after his death)

István Kniezsa (1898-1965; Slovak; Born into a Slovak family in Trstená; spoke Slovak, Russian, Polish, and Hungarian; Slavist who specialized in Slavic loanwords in Hungarian as well as Hungarian toponymy)

Leandro Marcolini Pedroso de Almeida (1982-; Brazilian; Midfielder who plays for Hungarian and Brazilian football clubs; became fluent in Hungarian while living in Bük)

Shimon Markish (1931-2003; Sephardic Jew; Born in Baku; emigrated to Hungary in 1970 after marrying a Hungarian woman; wrote in Hungarian and also translated Hungarian folk tales; worked with Zsuzsa Hetényi to translate Imre Kertész's novel Sorstalanság into Russian)

Feodora Fjodorovna Kornyilova (1903-1980; Sakha; Lawyer, prosecutor, and ceramist; wife of Hungarian Communist dictator Mátyás Rákosi; reportedly played a big role in the Hungarian publication of a book by Yakut writer Nikolai Mordinov)

Carlos Pérez (1971-; Cuban; Retired Cuban-Hungarian handball player, who played for Veszprém KC and the Hungarian national team; obtained Hungarian citizenship in 1999 and made his debut for the national team in 2002 against Slovenia)

Andrei Mocioni (1812-1880; Aromanian; Politician and jurist of the Mocioni family; prominently supported the monarchy during the 1848 Hungarian Revolution; tried to obtain increased autonomy for Banat Romanians in exchange for loyalism but only received executive powers over the region; spoke Aromanian, Romanian, Hungarian, Serbian, Latin, French, and German)

Eftimie Murgu (1805-1870; Romanian; Jurist and professor of philosophy who supported the 1848 Hungarian Revolution as a member of the Hungarian revolutionary parliament who vocally opposed Habsburg absolutism; studied philosophy at the University of Szeged; in addition to Romanian, he was fluent in Latin, Hungarian, German, Greek, and Church Slavonic)

Eginald Schlattner (1933-; Transylvanian Saxon; Pastor and writer who studied Protestant theology, mathematics, and hydrology at Kolozsvár; wrote three published novels with autobiographical elements that deal with the life of the Transylvanian Saxons between 1943 and the 1950s)

Dr. Chakib Pierre Daher (1960-; Lebanese; Moved to Budapest in 1982; became a Hungarian citizen in 2000; member of the Hungarian National Assembly and former member of Fidesz)

Munir Bashir (1930-2007; Iraqi Assyrian; Musician who settled in Budapest in the 1960s and studied at the Franz Liszt Conservatory under Zoltán Kodály and married a Hungarian woman; was considered to be the supreme master of the Arab maqamat scale system; created different styles of the Arabian Oud)

Josef Fockner (1800-1883; German; Lieutenant Colonel in the Honvéd; born in Olomouc to a poor family, but graduated from a military school; fought for the Hungarian side in the 1848 Revolution; fled as part of Lajos Kossuth's entourage afterwards; returned to Hungary in 1857 and after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 became a savings bank clerk in Temesvár)

Adam Clark (1811-1866; Scottish; Civil engineer best known for building the Széchenyi Chain Bridge in Budapest; was fluent in German and Hungarian; married a Hungarian woman and stayed in Hungary after the completion of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge)

Paulina Pfiffner (1825-1853; Italian-Pole; Ran from home in 1840 to become an actress in Budapest; disguised herself as a man named Kálmán Ligeti at the age of 23 to fight in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848; distinguished herself in the Battle of Piski)

Mária Lebstück (1830-1892; German; Hussar officer during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 who disguised herself as a man by the name of Károly Lebstück to join the Hungarian army; personally commended by Lajos Kossuth)

Hoang Thanh Trang (1980-; Vietnamese; Chess grandmaster; born in Hanoi but moved to Budapest at the age of 10; competed at ten Women's Chess Olympiads for both Vietnam and Hungary; has dual Hungarian and Vietnamese citizenship)

Stefan Dunjov (1915-1889; Banat Bulgarian; Revolutionary who fought in both the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and the Wars of Italian Unification; learned Hungarian and German at the Arad Gymnasium; graduated from the Faculty of Law at Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem)

Albert Grigoryevich Dragalin (1941-1998; Russian; Soviet mathematician who significantly contributed to the integration of the Soviet school of constructive mathematics into the global system of mathematical logic; moved to Debrecen in 1983 with his Hungarian wife and learned Hungarian there; defended his doctoral dissertation in Hungary in 1988; taught mathematics at the University of Debrecen from 1990)

Maria Theresa (1717-1780; Austrian; Ruler of the Habsburg Empire from 1740 until her death in 1780; absolute monarch who enacted reforms but also persecuted religious minorities)

Jakob Bleyer (1874-1933; Danube Swabian; Learned Hungarian at grammar school in Újvidék; published a doctoral thesis titled Hungarian Relations of German Historical Folk Songs until 1551; represented the German minority of Hungary after World War I)

Tera Fabiánová (1930-2007; Romani; One of the most prominent Romani poets; wrote in Romani, Czech, and Hungarian; wrote for Románo l’il (Romani Letter), which ran from 1969 and 1973 as the magazine of the Sväz Cikánů-Romů (Union of Gypsy-Roma) in Prague; pioneered Romani literature)

Annamanna Orsós (Boyash Romani; 1972-; Writer, poet, and educator; teaches at the Romani Studies Department at Pécsi Tudományegyetem; co-authored Beás nyelvtan (Boyash Grammar) with László Kálmán)

Emil Isac (1886-1954; Romanian; Poet and literary critic who was interested in promoting peace and friendship between Hungarians and Romanians; advocated for Romanian minority rights in Austria-Hungary and Hungarian minority rights in Romania after World War I)

Maximilian I of Mexico (1832-1867; Austrian-Mexican; First and only Emperor of the Second Mexican Empire; learned Hungarian in childhood with Franz Joseph; went to Mexico with a thousand Hungarian soldiers; had a loyal Hungarian cook known as József Tüdös, whom he addressed in Hungarian moments before the Emperor's own execution, requesting that he take back his pen to his mother)

Alexander Dukhnovych (1803-1865; Rusyn; Poet, priest, writer, and pedagogue considered to be responsible for the National Awakening of Rusyns; went to a Hungarian school in Ungvár during his childhood; wrote in Rusyn, Russian, and Hungarian; saw himself as a defender of Rusyn culture against Magyarization policies)

Marija Krucifiksa Kozulić (1852-1922; Croat; Catholic nun and a member of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart; founded the Catholic order of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Fiume, where she was born; spoke Italian as her first language but was also fluent in Croatian, French, German, and Hungarian)

Riccardo Zanella (1875-1959; Slovene-Italian; The only elected president of the short lived Free State of Fiume; born in Fiume and attended a Hungarian school there; became the leader of the Autonomist Party in Fiume in 1901 with the goal of maintaining the city's status as a corpus separatum ruled directly by Hungary to combat Croatian nationalism and bolster the Italian community; fought in a Hungarian unit during World War I but deserted to the Russians; demanded the restoration of the Free State of Fiume after World War II on grounds that it never belonged to Croatia or Yugoslavia)

Gáspár Heltai (1490-1574; Transylvanian Saxon; Born as Kaspar Helth; studied at Wittenberg University and established the first print shop in Kolozsvár; worked with a group of scholars to produce a translation of the New Testament in Hungarian)

Judita Cofman (1936-2001; Danube Swabian; Grew up in Vojvodina and learned Hungarian, Serbian, German, Russian, English and later French and Italian; became the first mathematician to receive a doctorate from the University of Novi Sad)

John Bowring (1792-1872; British; Political economist and writer who became the fourth Governor of Hong Kong; reportedly spoke around 100 languages and paid special attention to Hungarian in his last book Poetry of the Magyars, published in 1830)

Claude Hagège (1936-; French; Linguist fluent in 50 languages including Hungarian, Japanese, Guarani, Navajo, Quechua, and Persian)

Milan Hodža (1878- 1944; Slovak; Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938; attempted to establish a democratic federation of Central European states; in addition to Slovak was fluent in German, English, French, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Romanian, and Hungarian)

Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835; German; Founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin; linguist who made important contributions to the philosophy of language, ethnolinguistics and to the theory and practice of education who created the Humboldtian education ideal; in addition to German, spoke Greek, Latin, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Basque, Hungarian, Czech, and Lithuanian)

Ragıp Hulûsi Özdem (1893-1943; Turk; Linguist and politician who was a member of the commission responsible for the introduction of the new Turkish Latin alphabet; was fluent in Turkish, Arabic, Persian, French, German, English, Italian, Russian, Hungarian, Romanian, Esperanto, Bulgarian, Greek, Finnish, Latin, and Ancient Greek)

Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829; German; Cultural philosopher and historian who pioneered language typology; lived in Pest and learned Hungarian during the War of the 5th Coalition; was also fluent in German, Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, Persian; was one of the main figures of Jena Romanticism)

Mykola Lukash (1919-1988; Ukrainian; Translator and linguist who spoke around 20 languages; learned Yiddish as a child from local Jews and even joined a Gypsy caravan with the goal of learning their language; mastered French, German, and English by age 7; at the age of 18 suffered an accident and encountered a random Hungarian soldier who helped him after hearing him speak Hungarian)

Lesya Hyeorhiivna Mushketyk (1955-; Ukrainian; Folklorist, doctor of philology, and leading researcher at the Institute of Art History, Folklore and Ethnology of the MT Rylsky National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; foreign member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; taught Ukrainian at the University of Debrecen from 1994 to 1997; contributed to a Hungarian-Ukrainian dictionary)

Hana Ponická (1922-2007; Slovak; Writer and anti-Communist dissident who opposed the Communist government of Czechoslovakia; signed the Charter 77 human rights manifesto in 1977; translated from Italian, French, Hungarian, and German)

Anna Valentová (1941-; Czech; Studied Hungarian at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague from 1958 to 1964 and later taught 20th century Hungarian literature there; received the Hungarian State Medal of Merit for her translation work)

Julia Schiff (1940-; Transylvanian Saxon; Knew German, Romanian, and Hungarian from a young age from growing up in Banat; was a victim of the Bărăgan deportations with her family; translated works from Hungarian into Romanian and German)

Kyoko Hani (1929-2015; Japanese; Music teacher, educator, and translator who promoted the methods of Zoltán Kodály in Japan; translated several Hungarian works into Japanese; learned Hungarian while studying music in Hungary; translated fiction from Japanese into Hungarian)

Marija Jurić (1857-1957; Croat; Known by her pen name Zagorka; women's rights activist and first female journalist in Croatia; learned telegraphy and Hungarian while living in Hungary)

Selvarajan Yesudian (1916-1998; Indian; Yoga teacher and author who co-authored Sport és Jóga with Hungarian spiritual author Erzsébet Haich; moved to Hungary in 1937 and founded Europe's first yoga school in Budapest; learned Hungarian while living in Hungary)

Beatrice of Aragon (1457-1508; Italian; Queen of Hungary after marrying King Mátyás; learned Hungarian after her marriage; later became Queen of Bohemia)

Živko Gocić (1982-; Serb; Former Serbian water polo player for the Olympics; became captain of the Serbian national team in 2013; in addition to Serbian, speaks Russian, Italian, Hungarian, and English)

Jozef Urblík (1996-; Slovak; Athlete who plays for the Hungarian club Puskás Akadémia FC; speaks Hungarian, Slovak, and Czech fluently)

Vittorina Bartolucci (1859-1915; Italian; Opera singer who started performing in Budapest in 1881 and learned Hungarian soon afterwards to perform in the language)

Alexander Flegler (1804-1892; Swiss; Worked as a teacher in Zürich; became an honorary member of the Hungarian Historical Society and decided to learn Hungarian at the age of 60 as a result)

Juraj Posilović (1834-1914; Croat; Archbishop of Zagreb; received his doctorate in theology in Vienna; learned Hungarian in Budapest)

Zoltán Mujahid (1979-; Pakistani; Singer and music teacher; born in Karachi to a Pakistani father and Hungarian mother but only learned Hungarian after moving to Budapest at the age of 11)

Zoran Spišljak (1965-; Serb; Football manager and former player; learned impeccable Hungarian while growing up with Hungarian neighbors)

Pavel Jozef Šafárik (1795-1861; Slovak; One of the first scientific Slavists and a philologist, poet, and historian; spoke Latin, German, and Hungarian as these were mandatory languages for scientists in the Kingdom of Hungary)

Jan Reychman (1910-1975; Pole; Historian and Hungarologist; fled to Hungary after the Invasion of Poland in 1939 and learned Hungarian while there; edited Polish-Hungarian and Hungarian-Polish dictionaries)

Mileva Marić (1875-1948; Serb; Mathematician, physicist, and first wife of Albert Einstein; learned Hungarian in elementary school; read Hungarian scientific texts by Loránd Eötvös to Einstein)

François Nicoullaud (1940-2021; French; Diplomat and political analyst who graduated from Sciences Po in 1961 and then worked for the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs; worked in the French Embassy of Budapest; learned Hungarian and was president of the Friends of the Hungarian Institute in Paris until 2008)

Norman Stone (1941-2019; Scottish; Professor of European History in the Department of International Relations at Bilkent University; started learning Hungarian in 1962 at Debrecen; became fluent in Hungarian in prison after being arrested in Slovakia for trying to smuggle a friend into Austria)

Auguste de Gerando (1819-1849; French; Essayist and historian who specialized in Hungary and married a Hungarian countess; fought in the 1848 Hungarian Revolution on the Hungarian side and died from his wounds; learned Hungarian and Romanian while traveling in Transylvania)

Anamaria Pop (1952-2015; Romanian; Professional translator between Romanian and Hungarian; translated more than 20 Hungarian works into Romanian; was the director of the Cultural Center of Romania in Budapest; had Hungarian grandparents but her parents banned her from using Hungarian in the house so she relearned it as an adult)

Ludvík Svoboda (1895-1979; Czech; Fought in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I; joined the Czechoslovak Legion during the Russian Civil War before returning to Czechoslovakia; learned Hungarian in interwar Czechoslovakia while serving in the Czechoslovak Army and even taught Hungarian at a military academy from 1931 to 1934)

Konstantin Aivazian (1765-1840; Armenian; Father of renowned Russian-Armenian Romantic painter Hovhannes Aivazian; initially left his family due to personal conflicts and wandered around the Danube before settling in Crimea; was fluent in Turkish, Armenian, Hungarian, German, Yiddish, and Romani)

Ants Murakin (1892-1975; Estonian; Painter, theater decorator, theater and art critic, teacher, and translator; translated from Hungarian, German, and Russian; fought against Austria-Hungary in World War I and was sent to a POW camp in Esztergom, where he learned Hungarian; returned to Estonia in 1920 and started translating Hungarian literature into Estonian)

Petru Groza (1884-1958; Romanian; First Communist Prime Minister of Romania; graduated from a Hungarian Reformed high school in Szászváros and then studied law and economics at Budapest; served in the Honvéd in World War I; secured the return of Northern Transylvania from Hungary after World War II by promising Joseph Stalin that Hungarian minority rights would be protected; forced the abdication of Romania's king)

Molla Szadik (1836-1892; Uzbek; Met Hungarian Turkologist Ármin Vámbéry and traveled with him to Bukhara and Samarkand and became his trusted confidant; moved to Budapest with him in 1864 where he learned Hungarian in a year; translated Rege a Csodaszarvasról by János Arany into Chagatai)

Ambrozije Šarčević (1820-1899; Croat; Croatian nationalist and writer; opposed the 1848 Hungarian Revolution; contributed to a Hungarian-South Slav dictionary; in addition to Croatian, knew Hungarian, Latin, German, and French)

Juraj Fándly (1750-1811; Slovak; Catholic priest, entomologist, and writer who worked as a secretary in the Slovenské učené tovarišstvo (Slovak Educated Brotherhood); wrote the first major work in Anton Bernolák's Slovak language standard)

Anton Bernolák (1762-1813; Slovak; Linguist and Catholic priest; codified the first Slovak language standard; wrote a six-volume Slovak-Czech-Latin-German-Hungarian Dictionary)

Josef Budenz (1836-1892; German; Comparative linguist who researched the origins of the Hungarian language; promoted the idea that Hungarian is a member of the Uralic language family)

Björn Collinder (1894-1983; Swede; Linguist and professor of Finno-Ugric languages at Uppsala University; took a particular interest in Germanic loanwords in Finnish and Sami; was a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

Jerzy Snopek (1952-; Pole; Taught Polish literature at Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem; current Polish Ambassador to Hungary)

Vladimír Roy (1885-1936; Slovak; Poet and translator who worked as a chaplain in the Austro-Hungarian army; translated into Slovak poems from English, French, German, and Hungarian)

Ferdinand Čatloš (1895-1972; Slovak; Minister of Defense of the Slovak State during World War II; led Slovak troops in battle against Poland and the Soviet Union; originally born with the Hungarian name Nándor)

Omar Sharifullah (1990-; Afghan; Linguistics professor who fled to Hungary after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021; married to a Hungarian woman; in addition to his native Pashto, speaks Farsi, Urdu, English, and Hungarian)

Jean-Luc Moreau (1937; French; Poet, translator, and specialist in Finno-Ugric languages at the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations; translated multiple works from Estonian, Finnish, and Hungarian)

Laila Kinnunen (1939-2000; Finn; Singer who represented Finland at the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest; sung in Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, and Afrikaans)

Alexandra Aikhenvald (1957-; Russian-Australian; Linguist specializing in linguistic typology and the Arawak language family; co-founded the Research Center for Linguistic Typology at Australian National University in Canberra; published work on the Berber languages and Anatolian languages; knows at least English, German, French, Sanskrit, Akkadian, Lithuanian, Finnish, Hungarian, Arabic, Italian, Ancient Greek, Estonian, Hebrew, Yiddish, Portuguese, Warekana, Tariana, Tok Pisin, and Manambu)

Wening Esthyprobo (?-; Indonesian; Former Indonesian Ambassador to Hungary; inaugurated an Indonesian language course at the Budapest Business School in 2017; contributed to the translation of the Hungarian children's book Hoppla meséi. Kirándulás Pécs városába into Indonesian)

Arzami Otšei (1985-; Udmurt; Linguist, historian, and Uralicist; graduated from Udmurt State University as a Hungarian philologist; created the Uralic conlang Budinos; speaks Udmurt, Russian, English, French, Italian, Hungarian, Tatar, Mari, Estonian, and Erzya)

František Brábek (1848-1926; Czech; Magyarophile and translator from Czech to Hungarian; taught engineering and Hungarian at Charles University; vigorously promoted Czech-Hungarian cultural relations; published a Hungarian-Czech phrasebook in 1910)

Paul Chaulot (1914-1969; French; Poet and writer who translated the works of several Hungarian poets, in particular the works of Endre Ady, György Somlyó, and Janus Pannonius)

Mihkel Veske (1843-1890; Estonian; Poet and linguist; one of the leading representatives of the Estonian national awakening; vocally opposed Germanization in Estonia; taught Finnish at the University of Kazan; went to Hungary in 1885 to study Hungarian; studied Mari, Erzya, and Moksha in Kazan; translated folk songs from German, Russian, Finnish, and Hungarian into Estonian)

Janne Saarikivi (1973-; Finn; Linguist and writer who specializes in Uralic languages; speaks at least Finnish, Estonian, Veps, Karelian, Northern Sami, Hungarian, Mari, Erzya, English, German, Swedish, and Russian)

David Savarimanesh (?-; Iranian; Wrestling champion; came to Hungary as a refugee in 2015; learned Hungarian and Hungarian history in Hungary; was granted permission by a Hungarian judge to stay in the country for 10 years in 2016; became a Hungarian citizen in 2020; won a silver medal for Hungary at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2020)

Hasan Eren (1919-2007; Turk; Turkologist and Hungarologist who served as head of the Turkish Language Association from 1983 to 1993; was member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; personally received an award from Viktor Orbán; studied at ELTE)

Dana Gálová (1960-2015; Czech; Translator who specialized in Czech-Hungarian translations; obtained a PhD in Hungarian philology in 1987)

Yuri Pavlovich Gusev (1939-; Russian; Literary critic; translated multiple works of poetry and prose from Hungarian; taught literature in a Hungarian village in Kárpátalja, where he was introduced to the Hungarian language)

Vladimír Skalička (1909-1991; Czech; Linguist and interpreter in Czech, Finnish, English, Hungarian, Korean, and German; also studied Latin, Esperanto, and Turkish; published a Hungarian grammar in German in 1935)

Petro Mykolayovych Lyzanets (1930-; Ukrainian; Linguist; researcher of Ukrainian-Hungarian interlingual contacts and Hungarian dialectology; co-authored and compiled the first collection of Hungarian folk ballads of Kárpátalja; elected an honorary member of the Hungarian Linguistic Society in 1976)

Eva Irmanová (1943-; Czech; Historian who specializes in Hungarian history; wrote Maďarská menšina na Slovensku a její místo v zahraniční politice Slovenska a Maďarska po roce 1989 (The Hungarian minority in Slovakia and its place in the foreign policy of Slovakia and Hungary after 1989) and Maďarsko a versailleský mírový systém (Hungary and the Versailles peace system) among other works)

Oleg Konstantinovich Rossanov (1921-2016; Russian; Literary critic and translator; specialized in Hungarian literature; wrote articles on Hungarian authors)

Anu Nurk (1961-; Estonian; Linguist who taught Hungarian and Finnish at Turku University; specializes in Hungarian lexicography; member of the Estonian-Hungarian Society)

August Ahlqvist (1826-1889; Finn; Poet, linguist, writer, and member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; appointed professor of Finnish language and literature at the University of Helsinki in 1863; made Hungarian a university subject during his tenure; contributed to the reformation of the Finnish language)

Yedil Myrzakhanov (?-; Kazakh; Consul of Kazakhstan to Hungary; studied at the Budapest Business School University from 2000 to 2005; has stated that grammatical similarities between Hungarian and Kazakh helped him learn the language)

Yelena Malykhina (1925-2016; Russian; Hungarist who specialized in Hungarian literature and translated the works of over a dozen Hungarian authors; elected an honorary member of the Hungarian Writers' Association in 1991 and received a medal from the Hungarian government in 1997)

Grigol Abashidze (1914-1994; Georgian; Poet who won the Stalin Prize and the Order of Lenin for his works; translated poems by Sándor Petőfi into Georgian)

Kustaa Karjalainen (1871-1919; Finn; Uralicist who specialized in the Khanty language; went to Hungary in 1906 after returning from Siberia; decided to learn Hungarian due to its similarities to Khanty; documented Khanty vocabulary in Siberia)

Valei Kelmakovich Kelmakov (1942-; Udmurt; Linguist specializing in Udmurt language and literature; received the title of Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation in 1997; speaks Udmurt, Russian, Komi, Finnish, and Hungarian)

Fjeoktistonj Sandor (1928-2004; Moksha; Philologist and linguist who specialized in Uralic languages and the history of the Erzya and Moksha languages in particular; taught at ELTE; was a member of the International Society of Hungarian Philology)