Magdi (1950-2026)
Dear Friends, Partners and Members of the Guta Association,
We are mourning the death of Magdolna Toth Nagy, who passed away peacefully after a short illness. Magdi was a member of the Guta network almost from the beginning, attending Guta II, and was one of the founders when we became a legal association in the year 2000. For more than a decade until the time of her death, she served as Co-Executive Director of the Guta Association.
Guta was lucky to have Magdi with us, as she wore many hats. Under every hat she wore, she was first and foremost a supporter of environmental human rights, environmental defenders, and the Aarhus Convention. Everyone has stories about Magdi. In one particularly memorable occurrence in 1999, she got caught up with colleagues in the middle of the Carnival Against Capital march on the Strand in London. Typically for her, she cared more about whether the Metropolitan Police respected the rights of the demonstrators than her own personal safety.
For 30 years she was the heart and soul of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, leading its Public Participation Programme. She had been there for five years when the decision was made to start negotiating what would become the Aarhus Convention. She participated in every negotiating session and went on to become one of its most respected experts and capacity builders. She later shared the Aarhus experience in the negotiations that led to the Escazú Agreement in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
Having influenced so many friends, colleagues and especially young people, there has been an immense outpouring of tributes to Magdi from all over the world – from places like Geneva, Brussels, Nairobi, Oregon, Washington DC, Latin America, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, and every other place in Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans.
We cannot do justice to all of the tributes made, but some of them can be found below.
Magdi’s funeral will take place in Budapest on August 7 at Farkasréti cemetery at 13:45.
Rest in peace, Magdi.
From Ella Behlyarova, Secretary of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention); and
Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (Protocol on PRTRs)
“The secretariat of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) is deeply saddened by the passing of Magdolna Tóth Nagy, a steadfast champion of environmental democracy. Magdi’s longstanding leadership in the negotiations and implementation of the Aarhus Convention and its Protocol helped shape a framework that continues to empower people and strengthen environmental governance across many countries. Compassionate and principled, Magdi was an exceptionally committed and optimistic supporter of our treaties, inspiring colleagues, Governments and different organizations through her courage and determination. With her passing, we have lost a true advocate for participatory democracy, but her legacy will endure.”
Alistair McGlone CBE, head of UK delegation in the Aarhus Convention negotiations
“As one of the Aarhus originals, Magdi was a stalwart: a champion for the environment and civil society. She will live on in our hearts.”
From Michael Stanley-Jones, formerly of the Aarhus Convention and UNEP
“For decades Magdolna Toth Nagy guided our work in the Danube Basin, Environment-for-Europe Ministerial process, Kiev Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers and, above all, the Aarhus Convention. She was a legend fighting for environmental democracy, who brought patience, tolerance and good humour to everyone she touched.”
From Francesca Carlsson, European Environmental Bureau
“Magdi was compassionate and driven by a sense of fairness, we have lost a soldier for environmental justice. She was a champion for environmental rights, environmental defenders and one of the pioneers who worked on the negotiations for the Aarhus Convention.”
From Frederik Hafen, EEB
"To me Magdi was an inspiration and her moral compass a beacon of hope and perseverance. She was a reminder that progress is not made in one single step but throughout a consistent and dedicated journey over time. When facing tough decisions, I know many of us will continue to ask ourselves 'what would Magdi have thought of this?'"
From Ruth Greenspan Bell, Resources for the Future, who first met Magdi in 1991 at the REC
“She was a force of nature, determined to do her part to make the world a better place. She was a realistic optimist, even when the rest of us were a bit dubious. … Magdi came from a family with a wonderful legacy of producing strong, amazing, accomplished women who find unique ways to travel this earth.”
From members of the Guta family:
Olena Kravchenko:
“The mind refuses to believe that such a bright, intelligent, warm person is no longer with us. And the heart is filled with pain. A series of meetings with Magdi emerges from memories. Even in memories, she is smiling, deeply motivated in protecting the environment, warm, ready to help with advice. Her warmth, kindness, love, and motivation will always remain with us.”
Fe Sanchis Moreno:
“She was not only a great professional from whom I learned so many important things since I met her back in 1996, but also a close friend who I had the privilege of meeting at least once a year ... I cannot believe I will not see her anymore....My world is a worse place without her presence and Participatory Democracy has lost a formidable defender, no doubt about it: intelligent, hardworking, committed, tenacious, diplomatic, tireless, accurate, with a great and clear strategy view, and… lovely... Magdi is/was one of the most networking people I had known, and warm and supportive under all circumstances … She taught me how meaningful work must be accompanied with knowing better those who work alongside you, and seasoned with music, songs and good meals. Since yesterday I cannot stop thinking about her and picturing her laughing in her special way, while winking her right eye,
… Ay Magdi, te voy a echar mucho, muchísimo de menos.”
John Bonine:
“I remember so many important meetings in which Magdi personified quiet wisdom. I remember Magdi's smiles, human warmth, bright disposition. Magdi was an important part of the birth of the modern environmental democracy movement and the legal instruments that it produced. May her beautiful spirit live on in all of us and in the results of her path-breaking work.”
Stephen Stec:
“I owe a lot to Magdi. I feel very lucky to have been her collaborator, colleague, comrade in arms, and friend for 35 years, through thick and thin. Magdi was already known in the West as a dynamo and she proved to be everything promised and more – a shining star who never wavered from her determination, who stubbornly defended what is right, and who attracted many others to the cause of environmental democracy. As Dima Skrylnikov pointed out, she was the one non-lawyer whom we welcomed into the Guta Association, and I know how much she loved Guta.”
Marianna Bolshakova:
“It has been absolutely heartbreaking. Magdi was a dear friend, a mentor and an inspiration. I think her big heart, her kindness, her sense of justice and her absolute determination and perseverance are what will always stay with me. I cannot put into words how much I will miss her. How much all of us in the environmental community will miss her.”
From colleagues at the Regional Environmental Center:
Jernej Stritih, former Executive Director:
“Magdi was one of the first REC people I met, making a welcoming and lasting impression … . She was our best-known and most recognised face and expert. She was an anchor of the team, both professionally and personally. It is impossible to quantify her contribution to the development of civil society and the standards of participation across Europe. She will be sorely missed.”
Toni Popovski, former Executive Director:
“A great loss. Every organization relies on a few key individuals, and Magdi was undoubtedly one of them. She left a lasting mark on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention and played a pivotal role in making REC for CEE globally recognized. She will be deeply missed.”
Pavel Antonov, former REC colleague, has published a moving obituary of Magdi on the website of BlueLink, a Bulgarian NGO which partners with Guta in the BeLIFE project:
https://www.bluelink.net/en/novini/napusna-ni-magdi-toth-nagy.html
Kaidi Tingas:
“Magdi was so extraordinary, so timeless, that we - her closest friends - somehow lived with the certainty that she would outlive us all, and that we would never have to bury her, neither in reality nor in our hearts. My colleagues and friends have already written such beautiful tributes to her, but there is something I would like to add: how deeply, how wholeheartedly we laughed with Magdi. Our work took us to the far corners of the world together, and along the way we gathered countless stories - stories to remember, to tell again and again, and to laugh over just as uproariously each time. Magdi was the most wonderful companion. Irreplaceable. A true constant. She was at the very heart of the world that opened itself to me in Szentendre while joining REC family. I don’t know yet how it’s going to be in the world without Magdi, I wish I would see her again and thank for everything!!!”
