Ilona Szomolanyi

* August 16, 1931, Pográny - † August 1, 2010, Pográny / Folk singer, folklore organizer ; ; The enthusiastic folk singer with an excellent voice was also the founder (1972) and leader of the local folklore group for almost four decades. In addition to folk songs and ballads, Aunt Ilonka sang church songs in church, at funerals and other church occasions. She sang both in the folklore group and solo. She recorded her experiences and folk knowledge (festive and mid-year folk customs, folk songs, mid-year events) in a notebook. She preserved and presented the Lucázás, carnival, harvest and vintage customs, weddings, spinning, feather plucking and hemp processing through the group. She not only preserved and nurtured the traditions, but also passed them on with noble intentions. The group he led performed in many places in Slovakia and Hungary, but also made it to the St. Stephen celebrations in Vienna. He won numerous awards, and was an excellent folk artist of Csemadok (1987). He won a silver medal at the district finals of the 9th Spring Wind Pours Water folk music and song competition (1989), and was able to boast a silver medal again at the district finals of the 10th Spring Wind Pours Water (1990). He received an excellent qualification for his successful performance at the II. Lajos Vass folk music competition (Vágkirályfa, 1997), and a year later a silver medal there (1998). In recognition of his outstanding work in Csemadok, he received the Csemadok commemorative medal (Pered, 2009). His art has been preserved on several sound carriers, e.g. the album Zoboralji lakodalom, the cassette and CD In front of the Pogrányi templom, etc. He has been visited by many renowned collectors, and his folk songs are preserved in several institutional databases and printed books (the folk song and ballad collections of Tibor Ág and others, the funeral custom and vigil songs collections of István Virt and Judit Czövek, etc.).