WASHINGTON, D.C.  (MPG) - On Wednesday, Oct. 22, Dr. Elizabeth Edwards Spalding, Chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) and Founding Director of the Victims of Communism Museum, was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary  at the Embassy of Hungary in Washington, D.C.  

Conferred by the President of Hungary, Tamás Sulyok, and presented by Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, the award is one of the country’s highest honors. According to the official laudation, Dr. Spalding was recognized for “her work in presenting the 1956 Revolution and Freedom Fight, as well as Hungary’s and the Hungarian nation’s struggle against communism, at both educational and scholarly levels, and for her efforts in strengthening a positive image of Hungary.”  

Ambassador Szabolcs Takacs noted Dr. Spalding is a “third-generation anti-communist,” following in the footsteps of her grandfather and father, VOC Co-Founder, Dr. Lee Edwards. The ambassador lauded the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation as “an institution created to draw attention to the cruelty of totalitarian regimes, ensuring that future generations learn from credible sources and remember the past.” He praised Dr. Spalding for her scholarship and her role in researching, writing, and designing the Victims of Communism Museum.    

Dr. Spalding spoke of her family, intellectual mentors, and Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, and Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty as influences on her teaching and scholarship as well as her work through the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and Museum. “On this special day,” she said, “I express my deep gratitude for authentic freedom and the friendship between the American and Hungarian peoples.”    

The award ceremony was part of the Embassy’s commemoration of the 69th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.    

United States Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau participated in the event and spoke of Hungary’s courageous fight against communism as well as the importance of teaching about the past and the continuing influence of this most deadly ideology.