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In his laudation, Szőcs recognised Wiechno?s tireless work to improve and maintain cultural relationships between Hungary and Poland.
Barbara Wiechno was awarded a diploma in Hungarian language and literature from the University of Warsaw in 1968. She was deputy director of the Polish Information and Cultural Centre in Budapest in 1972-76 and served as chief secretary to the Polish Ambassador to Hungary in 1983-87. She headed the Polish culture institute in Budapest between 1997 and 2001. She has worked for the Polish Ministry of Culture in Warsaw as well as for several book publishers.
Theatre productions and exhibitions in the Polish and Hungarian capitals have been among the fruits of her labour. A translation of the plays of Stanislaw Wyspianski into Hungarian by György Spiró was one of her initiatives. She also invited Ewa Lipska and Tadeusz Nowak to Budapest, where they established long friendships with László Nagy and Sándor Csoóri.
Wiechno has organised a number of translator exchanges between the two countries and has done much to cement ties between university faculties.
Since her retirement in 2007, Wiechno has taught Hungarian studies at the Petőfi Sándor Primary School in Warsaw.
Wiechno was awarded the Pro Cultura Hungarica prize in 2001.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
