Julia Balaban

* 1925, Pográny – † 2018, Pográny / teacher, cultural organizer, theater group leader, folk singer ; ; Júlia Balabán was born in Pográny, neighboring Alsóbodok, in 1925. Her ancestors were not from Pográny, but her father, István Balabán, got a job in the mill there. Júlia Balabán spent many years of her life and activity as a teacher at the Alsóbodok lower elementary school. She began her career there in 1958. She played a role in the professional and organizational leadership of various cultural groups, in teaching plays and in founding the local folklore group. Tibor Ág, a folk music collector, visited the village in 1972, on which occasion Júlia Balabán gathered the best singers in one of the school's classrooms. In the same year, the fourteen-member local folklore group was formed from the people selected here, which reached the national finals at the Spring Wind national parade. Júlia Balabán became the principal of the Bodok school, then left the institution at the end of the 1983/84 school year to enter a well-deserved retirement. She lived in Pográny in her older years, and then spent her last years in a nursing home in Nitra. On July 7, 2015, the Alsóbodok municipality made her an honorary citizen of the village, as she “helped the development and spiritual elevation of our village with her selfless pedagogical and public activities”. On this occasion, there was a cultural event in the village, but unfortunately, due to her health condition, she was unable to attend it in person. She died in 2018 and is buried in their family grave in the Pográny cemetery. ; ; Settlements related to his life: Alsóbodok, Pográny