Soma Foundation

The Soma Foundation was established in 2001 to honor the memory of my late boyfriend, Gõbölyös József, or simply Soma to those who loved him. The Foundation seeks to enhance the functioning of democracy in Hungary by providing awards, stipends and legal defense to investigative journalists working toward greater transparency and accountability in society. The Soma Prize, which is awarded every year on Soma’s birthday, 11th January to to an author or authors who, in our view, wrote the best investigative journalistic work concerning Hungary during the preceding year. The prize carries a HUF 1 million cash award, also seeks to redress the shortcomings of the current situation in Hungary, where journalists often cannot afford to undertake the necessary research for a story, and their efforts are met with little or no recognition.