Hungarian American
Hungarian-American refers to
American citizens of
Hungarian descent. Some notable examples include
Zsa Zsa Gabor and
Joseph Pulitzer and
Thomas Szasz. Many Hungarians fled to the
United States after the
Soviet invasion in 1956.
Hungarians have been a part of America for as long as Europeans have settled the New World, with Hungarian-Americans such as
Michael de Kovats, the founder of the
United States Cavalry, active in the
American Revolution. Hungarians have maintained a constant state of immigration to the United States since then, however are best known for three principle waves of immigration.
The first wave occurred in 1849-1850 by the so-called "Forty-niners," who emigrated to escape retribution by Austrian authorities after the defeat of the
Hungarian Revolution of 1848. By the turn of the century, the United States saw an immigration boom primarily of Southern and Eastern Europeans. Included in this wave was between 650,000-700,000 ethnic Hungarians. Unlike the educated gentry who formed the core of the
1849 wave, the second wave was mostly poor and uneducated immigrants seeking a better life in America.
The circumstances of the third wave of immigration had much in common with the first wave. In 1956 Hungary was again under the power of a foreign state, this time the
Soviet Union, and again Hungarians rose up in revolution. Like the revolution of 1848, the
1956 Hungarian Revolution failed and led to the emigration of 200,000 "56-ers" fleeing persecution after the revolution. 40,000 of them found their way to the United States.
According to the
2000 US Census, there are 1,398,724[
1] Hungarians in the United States at the present time.The states with the largest Hungarian-American populations include[
2]:
#Ohio- 193,951#New York- 137,029#California- 133,988#Pennsylvania- 132,184#New Jersey- 115,615#Michigan 98,036#Florida 96,885
See
List of Hungarian Americans*
American Hungarian Federation*
American Hungarian Foundation*
William Penn Association*
Hungarian America Foundation*
Manhattan Hungarian Network*
US Census Bureau*
Hungarian Americans*
Hungarians in America*
List of Cities with Large Hungarian Population*
List of Hungarian Churches
