Prof. Dr. Mária Schmidt is a Széchenyi Prize-winning historian and the Director General of the Public Foundation for the Research of Central and Eastern European History and Society. From 2010 to 2024, she served as a university professor at Pázmány Péter Catholic University. As a postdoctoral fellow and visiting professor, she has taught at numerous universities around the world. Between 1998 and 2002, she was Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister. She served as Government Commissioner responsible for the coordination of several national commemorative programs: the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Revolution and War of Independence (2015–2017), the First World War centenary commemorations (2018–2020), and the "30 Years of Freedom" program (2019–2022). She has received numerous national and international awards for her work, including the Széchenyi Prize in 2014 and the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of Hungary (civil division) in 2023. She is the author of numerous historical works.