Debrecen4U
January 23, 2026
The Várhalmi Ilona Awards Were Presented on the Eve of Hungarian Culture Day
On the eve of Hungarian Culture Day, Várhalmi Ilona Awards were presented at the Csokonai Theatre. The award honoring the memory of the legendary art director of the Ady Endre Secondary School was given to Csilla Kiss Papp and Márta Vajda.
Csilla Kiss Papp is the former deputy principal of the Medgyessy Ferenc Secondary School and the current head of the Education Department of the Igazgyöngy Foundation and the Bihari Primary School of the Arts. “I try to guide children into a world—or at least show them a world—where culture and the arts can offer them an inviting and self-affirming opportunity that can make their lives better, more beautiful, or simply richer,” she said.
Márta Vajda is a teacher at the Debrecen Vocational Training Center’s School of Building Technology and Technical Vocational Education, who has maintained an active relationship with the Csokonai National Theatre for many years. Through her work, students take part in theatrical experiences within the framework of the Csokonai Youth Program. “I believe that the starting point of all educational and community-building work is to be fully present. To be present with understanding ears and understanding eyes, to be present in speech, in silence, and in listening,” she said.
The award has been established in memory of Ilona Várhalmi, who passed away in February 2024, by five Debrecen cultural institutions—MODEM, the Déri Museum, the Csokonai National Theatre, the Art Center of the University of Debrecen’s Faculty of Humanities, and the Vojtina Puppet Theatre.
“The passion with which she helped her students build and grow, and with which she built the city’s culture, is an example and a message that this award embraces as its own and seeks to keep this legacy alive, while also recognizing and once again making visible those who carry this legacy forward in the city in a similar spirit,” Deputy Mayor István Puskás said.
The aim of the award is to recognize teachers who follow the programs of Debrecen’s cultural institutions with special attention and regularly accompany their students to these events. Every January, the partners honor two teachers engaged in public education in the region: in addition to the commemorative plaque by visual artist Éva Varga, further offerings are also made to the award recipients. The board of trustees of the institutions presents the award each year on January 21, on the eve of the Day of Hungarian Culture. Last year, the award was received by Dorottya Danyi and Judit Nagyné Bacsó.
Who was Ilona Várhalmi?
Ilona Várhalmi was the deputy head and art director of the Debrecen Ady Endre Secondary School. She graduated from and later worked at the Tóth Árpád Secondary School. She earned teaching degrees in Hungarian and German, as well as a physical education teaching qualification, and subsequently completed doctoral studies in theatre theory at the University of Theatre and Film Arts. In 2013, at the city’s request, she directed the musical Be Faithful unto Death, which soon became an audience favorite. She was the first recipient of the Ady Ring of the Ady Endre Secondary School, awarded by a vote among teaching staff for Teacher of the Year since 2003.
There is hardly a theatre in the country where one cannot find a former student of hers. She taught numerous subjects, allowing her to get to know the children from as many perspectives as possible, and she maintained particularly close relationships with them, available to them day and night, even on Saturdays or Sundays. When the Ady Secondary School was founded, she was entrusted with establishing the drama specialization. Since then, many of her former students have become nationally renowned actors.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
