Dr. Szabó Lajos: Nők a magyar sportban (A Sportmúzeum Kincsei 3. Budapest, 2003)

Woman Camp/Christian Camp for Women. It was led by the Catholic Margit Schlachta, the first female member of the Hungarian Parliament in 1920. In the question of sports and P.E. they followed the Catholic principles of the age. Sports activity for women was suggested, but only at moderate level, in case it did not bother family life. On the other hand it supported the activity of levente (military youth organization)-movement. After World War I and Hungary's loss of two-thirds of its territory P. E. became part of the military training for the revisionism. Taking part in the activities of the levente became compulsory for women after 1939. In accordance with the social and financial differences tennis, golf, yachting, auto-motor sport, riding, and archery remained sports for the aristocrats. Ball games, track and field/athletics, gymnastics, swimming and fencing were carried out within the framework of middle-class sports clubs, at the National Gymnastics Club and the Hungarian Athletics Club. With regard to competitive sport, Hungarian women were successful in international competition, with the greatest success in figure skating. Lili Kronberger won two world championship titles in 1910 and 1911, while Opika Méray Horváth won three titles in 1912,1913, and 1914. With the appearance of the Modern Olympic Games and European- and World championships the performance/achievements of women were also published on the front pages of magazines. Success became politics after 1920, so the viewpoints of health and athletics were not stressed. The first Hungarian woman to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris was Gizella Tary who placed sixth in fencing in 1924. The first Olympic medal (a Bronze) for women was won by Emilia Rotter for the Hungarians in Lake Placid, 1932, in pair skating. The first two Olympic gold medals were won by Ibolya Csák in high jump, and by Ilona Elek in foil, both in Berlin, in 1936. After World War II, the question of women became a political question, as in the Soviet Union. Women never had high rank in the administration, but sports became a question of politics, too, representing the superiority of socialism. The Olympic games of 1952 and 1956 were the most successful Olympics for Hungarian women. Agnes Keleti became the most successful Hungarian woman Olympic champion, ever, with 10 medals (5 gold). The swimmers were also very successful. From among the non-Olympic sports, table tennis was the most important of sport. Although in politics women were pushed back, in sports they were supported if they saw better chances of winning with them (kayak-canoe, fencing, basketball, handball, volleyball.) However, the two wage-earner family model was formed, and women had less time to spend on sports even though sports became very important among university students. After the change of regime in 1989, life became more financially difficult, and there was less opportunity for the average family to participate in sport. However, elite female athletes continued to be successful and became media stars in Hungary, mirroring the practices of the West. The most notable of