The other day, I found myself in an interesting conversation when someone asked whether I was ashamed to be Hungarian. I believe they were referring to the political situation, specifically that there hasn’t been true democracy in my country for a long time — only in name. Our prime minister is well-known worldwide.
Even though the question seemed a bit offensive, I smiled because it reminded me of how complicated, painful, yet powerful this identity can be.Hungary is a small country. A troubled one, historically, and also politically, yes.
But this place is also home to a vibrant spirit of wild intellect, where unique geniuses and resilient souls work tirelessly to improve the world around them. They do boldly, and often without seeking recognition.
Long before the age of lightbulbs and smartphones, a Benedictine priest named Ányos Jedlik was experimenting with the fundamental principles of the electric motor. He also carbonated water — okay, not exactly world peace, but who doesn’t love soda?
Then came Kálmán Kandó, who helped modernize Europe’s railroads. And László Bíró, who, frustrated by leaky fountain pens, invented the ballpoint pen, still called a “biro” in many countries today.
In the 1930s, Albert Szent-Györgyi isolated vitamin C and received the Nobel Prize for it. He achieved this using paprika. Yes paprika.
John von Neumann, arguably the least Hungarian-sounding Hungarian genius, laid the groundwork for the modern computer. And in 1946, Zoltán Bay sent radar signals to the moon. Just imagine that for a second, bouncing signals off the moon, in a lab in Budapest, right after World War II.
Then there’s the Rubik’s Cube. Ernő Rubik invented it in 1974. Over 350 million cubes later, it continues to challenge minds and shape thinkers worldwide.
Even in sports, we have given the world some of its most graceful warriors, hard to choose, but I mention our swimmers, our national water polo team, and our épée fencers.
László Krasznahorkai was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature for his compelling and visionary work that, amid apocalyptic terror, affirms the power of art. With this honor, he became the second Hungarian writer to win the Nobel in literature, after Imre Kertész in 2002. Hungarian writers and poets have achieved something remarkable: they transformed historical trauma, exile, revolution, oppression, and psychological depth into world-class literature. Many were censored, exiled, or ignored at home before being celebrated abroad—which is almost a national literary tradition.
Hungarian literature does not seek attention. It waits, deepens, and gradually shifts your perspective without you realizing, so subtly but surely. That tension—between silence and intensity—is exactly why it continues to appear on the global stage.
And now, in the 21st century, we are back in the lab again. Katalin Karikó’s groundbreaking mRNA research made the COVID-19 vaccine possible. In 2023, she finally received the Nobel Prize she had long deserved — a victory not just for science but for endurance. Genomate Health and Oncompass Medicine are pioneering digital drug assignment for Precision Oncology, offering hope to those fighting cancer in a way never seen before.
Botond Roska is restoring vision for the blind through gene therapy. And László Lovász’s lifelong dedication to elegant mathematical thought earned him the Abel Prize — the closest thing math has to a Nobel.
Hungary isn’t easy. It never has been. But it’s brilliant in that paradoxical way that rarely makes the headlines. I come from a place where people believe in ideas so much that they spend their entire lives chasing them, even when no one is watching.
And I believe that matters. I come from a place where researchers, entrepreneurs, and healthcare professionals work under nearly impossible conditions: underfunded, undervalued. Yet, somehow, they keep producing results that change lives, make the world better, and sometimes literally save it.
So, let’s face it: yes, I think maybe I am actually ashamed. Shame that our prime minister, notorious as he is, keeps managing to manipulate a nation into re-electing him every four years. I guess it’s in our blood. I let myself be manipulated, too, in my personal life, by someone who used the same tactics he does.
I truly examined my moment of hesitation before answering this question, if I am ashamed of being Hungarian.
But even with that fleeting moment of doubt, my final answer is that I’m not, actually, definitely not. I’m proud. FIERCELY proud.
Even if, in my mother’s words, I’ve “failed as a Hungarian” because I moved abroad and see my future in America. For me, so far, this is the place where if you work hard and hold on long enough, someone will notice. Someone will care. And that, too, matters. Honestly, this matters the most to me.
Here’s a less-discussed aspect of people proudly mentioning our Hungarian geniuses: many of these brilliant minds didn’t achieve great success because of Hungary- unfortunately, they succeed to thrived in spite of it.
Too often, they had to leave.
To secure funding, to earn credibility, to have the freedom to think, to simply survive.
Karikó, Neumann, Bíró, Gábor Dénes, Szent-Györgyi — just to name a few — all received recognition abroad, mostly in the U.S., where openness, curiosity, and room to grow existed. fail, and room to begin again, and again, and again, until the world-changing results were born.
So…Lucky?
Was I born with six degrees of knowledge, or because four languages were somehow pre-installed into my brain? Because fourteen books just wrote themselves, or because someone handed me a PhD like a party favor?
Are you f@cking kidding me? Wake up.
This wasn’t luck.
This was decades of relentless work. It was blood, sweat, and salt — sometimes all at once. It meant working day and night, literally, through migraines and heartbreaks. It involved missing birthdays, canceling dinners, and writing “sorry, I can’t make it” for the hundredth time. It led to losing friends. It meant walking outside in joggers, hoping no one would see me, because I collapsed into bed at 4:40AM exactly as I was, fully dressed, and at 6 AM, I woke up like that and went out to walk the dog. I looked like sh@t and hadn’t showered all day.
This was running on caffeine and prayer. This was dry eyes and blurry vision at 3 AM, with pages lit only by screen glow. This was saying goodbye to moments with people I love because I had deadlines to meet, lives to study, papers to peer-review, patients to care for, and futures to build into existence. This was collapsing on the floor, crying because I couldn’t do it anymore, and then doing it anyway.
This was burning out, breaking down, and getting back up, again and again and again, as always, “just one more time”.
Last year, I’ve been doing all of this while navigating fear, trauma, and violations of my safety, unable to sleep, troubled by nightmares and flashbacks, exhausted like never before, while still showing up to work, writing, leading, and caring.
So no. I don’t go by luck. I’m not lucky, just determined as hell.
You call it luck, I call it work, I call it dedication. And if you put in the work too, you just might “get lucky” yourself.
Go get lucky, girl.
Nora is the first PhD candidate in the world in Medical Foresight. A clinical health psychologist, expert in science communication and lifestyle medicine. As a researcher, she aims to open the way for a happier, more efficient healthcare system by addressing healthcare professionals’ hesitations towards adopting medical AI. This is her first online course for medical professionals:
The doctor–patient relationship is changing faster than medical training can keep up. Patients arrive informed, full of questions, motivated by data, and increasingly influenced by digital health and medical AI — yet most doctors have never learned how to navigate this new dynamic without conflict or defensiveness. Foresight Studio New York’s brand-new online course, From Authority to Ally, offers a solid, psychologically informed skillset for this transition. It provides doctors with practical communication techniques, somatic regulation tools, and forward-looking frameworks that maintain clinical authority while fostering genuine partnership.
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