Magyar Cserkészszövetség

Magyar Cserkészszövetség
Hungarian Scout Association
Location	Budapest
Country	Hungary
Founded	1912
Founders	Alajos Izsóf Béla Megyercsy Gyula Papp Sándor Sík
Membership	11,030 (2017)
Országos Elnök (Nationwide President)	Judit Pótó
Országos Ügyvezető Elnök (Nationwide Managing President)	József Pótor
Országos Vezetőtiszt	János Péter Ronkay
Affiliation	World Organization of the Scout Movement
Website www.cserkesz.hu

Magyar Cserkészszövetség (Hungarian Scout Association), the primary national Scouting organization of Hungary, was founded in 1912, and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922 and again after the rebirth of Scouting in the country in 1990. The coeducational Magyar Cserkészszövetség had 8,145 members in 2011.

The first Scouting activity in Hungary was the raft trip on the river Vág in 1908. In 1909 Hungarian newspapers reported about Scouting in England, and some chapters of Scouting for Boys were published as well. István Kanitz bought Baden-Powell's book Scouting for Boys and started the first unofficial Scout troop with friends. The first official troops were founded in 1910 in schools and Christian youth associations. The first Scout troops in the dual monarchy, the troops at the Piarist High School, Calvinist Youth Club and Regnum Marianum, were founded in Budapest in 1910. In 1912 the Hungarian Scout Association (Magyar Cserkész Örszem Szöveség) was founded.

Important Scouting pioneers in Hungary were Sándor Sík,László Králik,Fritz de Molnar and Aladar de Szillassy. Fritz de Molnar brought a copy of Scouting for Boys from Sweden to Hungary and started Scouting in the Piarist College. Fritz de Molnar later became the Hungarian International Commissioner and Deputy Camp Chief. He was the man who won the heart of Count Pál Teleki for Scouting. Aladar de Szillassy, a teacher and member of the YMCA in Budapest, started a translation of Scouting for Boys and with the support of the National Secretary of the Hungarian YMCA, he started Scouting as part of the YMCA in Budapest. The Piarist Priest Sík Sándor finished the translation of Scouting for Boys.

Another influence supporting the beginning of Scouting in Hungary was the youth magazine Zaszlónk ("Our Flag"). Hungarian Scouts worked closely with Austrian Scouts. In 1917 a Scout exhibition in Vienna was organized by the Hungarian and Austrian Scouts. The Hungarian Scout Association was the Scout association for the Kingdom of Hungary (Transleithania), while the Österreichischer Pfadfinderbund was the association for Cisleithania.