Antal Szerb
Encyclopedia
Antal Szerb was a noted Hungarian
scholar and writer. He is recognized as one of the major Hungarian literary personalities of the 20th century.
Catholic
. He studied Hungarian
, German
and later English
, obtaining a doctorate
in 1924. From 1924 to 1929 he lived in France
and Italy
, also spending a year in London
, England
.
As a student he published essays on Georg Trakl and Stefan George, and quickly established a formidable reputation as a scholar, writing erudite studies of William Blake
and Henrik Ibsen
among other works. Elected President of the Hungarian Literary Academy in 1933 - aged just 32 -, he published his first novel, The Pendragon Legend
(which draws upon his personal experience of living in Britain) the following year. His second and best-known work, Utas és holdvilág, known in English as Journey by Moonlight
, came out in 1937. He was made a Professor
of Literature
at the University of Szeged
the same year. He was twice awarded the Baumgarten Prize
, in 1935 and 1937.
In 1941 he published a History of World Literature which continues to be authoritative today. He also published a volume on novel theory and a book about the history of Hungarian literature. Given numerous chances to escape antisemitic persecution (as late as 1944), he chose to remain in Hungary, where his last novel, a Pirandellian fantasy about a king staging a coup against himself, then having to impersonate himself, Oliver VII
, was published in 1942. It was passed off as a translation from the English, as no 'Jewish' work could have been printed at the time.
Szerb was deported to a concentration camp late in 1944, and was beaten to death there in January 1945, at the age of 43.
Czech
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Italian
Polish
Slovak
Slovenian
Spanish
Serbian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
scholar and writer. He is recognized as one of the major Hungarian literary personalities of the 20th century.
Life and work
Szerb was born in 1901 to assimilated Jewish parents in Budapest, but baptizedBaptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
. He studied Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and later English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, obtaining a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in 1924. From 1924 to 1929 he lived in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, also spending a year in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
As a student he published essays on Georg Trakl and Stefan George, and quickly established a formidable reputation as a scholar, writing erudite studies of William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
and Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
among other works. Elected President of the Hungarian Literary Academy in 1933 - aged just 32 -, he published his first novel, The Pendragon Legend
The Pendragon Legend
The Pendragon Legend is a 1934 novel by the Hungarian writer Antal Szerb.The book is a philosophical thriller/comedy/murder-mystery/ghost story set first in London and then in Wales...
(which draws upon his personal experience of living in Britain) the following year. His second and best-known work, Utas és holdvilág, known in English as Journey by Moonlight
Journey by Moonlight (novel)
Journey by Moonlight is among the best-known novels in Hungarian literature. Written by Antal Szerb, it was first published in 1937...
, came out in 1937. He was made a Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
at the University of Szeged
University of Szeged
The University of Szeged is one of Hungary's most distinguished universities, and is among the most prominent higher education institutions in Central Europe...
the same year. He was twice awarded the Baumgarten Prize
Baumgarten Prize
The Baumgarten Prize was founded by Ferenc Ferdinánd Baumgarten on October 17, 1923. It was awarded every year from 1929 to 1949...
, in 1935 and 1937.
In 1941 he published a History of World Literature which continues to be authoritative today. He also published a volume on novel theory and a book about the history of Hungarian literature. Given numerous chances to escape antisemitic persecution (as late as 1944), he chose to remain in Hungary, where his last novel, a Pirandellian fantasy about a king staging a coup against himself, then having to impersonate himself, Oliver VII
Oliver VII
Oliver VII is a novel by Antal Szerb. Originally published in 1942, the book's first English translation was published in 2007. In the book, the restless ruler of an obscure Central European state plots a coup against himself and escapes to Venice in search of ‘real’ experience. There he falls in...
, was published in 1942. It was passed off as a translation from the English, as no 'Jewish' work could have been printed at the time.
Szerb was deported to a concentration camp late in 1944, and was beaten to death there in January 1945, at the age of 43.
Selected bibliography
- Az angol irodalom kistükre, 1929 ("An Outline of English Literature")
- Cynthia, 1932
- A magyar irodalom története, 1934 ("History of Hungarian literature")
- A Pendragon legenda, 1934
- tr.: The Pendragon LegendThe Pendragon LegendThe Pendragon Legend is a 1934 novel by the Hungarian writer Antal Szerb.The book is a philosophical thriller/comedy/murder-mystery/ghost story set first in London and then in Wales...
, ISBN 1-901285-60-X, 2006
- tr.: The Pendragon Legend
- Szerelem a palackban, 1935 ("Love in the Bottle", short stories)
- Budapesti útikalauz marslakók számára, 1935
- tr.: A Martian's Guide to Budapest (see a detail)
- Utas és holdvilág, 1937
- tr.: Journey by MoonlightJourney by Moonlight (novel)Journey by Moonlight is among the best-known novels in Hungarian literature. Written by Antal Szerb, it was first published in 1937...
, ISBN 1-901285-50-2
- tr.: Journey by Moonlight
- A világirodalom története, 1941 ("History of World Literature")
- VII. Olivér, 1943 ("Oliver the VIIth", published under the pseudonym A.H. Redcliff)
- tr.: Oliver VIIOliver VIIOliver VII is a novel by Antal Szerb. Originally published in 1942, the book's first English translation was published in 2007. In the book, the restless ruler of an obscure Central European state plots a coup against himself and escapes to Venice in search of ‘real’ experience. There he falls in...
ISBN (13) 978 1 901285 90 1
- tr.: Oliver VII
- A királyné nyaklánca, 1943 ("The Queen's Necklace")
- Száz vers, 1943/1944 ("100 poems")
Translations
English- Journey by MoonlightJourney by Moonlight (novel)Journey by Moonlight is among the best-known novels in Hungarian literature. Written by Antal Szerb, it was first published in 1937...
- The Pendragon LegendThe Pendragon LegendThe Pendragon Legend is a 1934 novel by the Hungarian writer Antal Szerb.The book is a philosophical thriller/comedy/murder-mystery/ghost story set first in London and then in Wales...
2006 ISBN 1-901285-60-X (another translation published 1963) - Oliver VIIOliver VIIOliver VII is a novel by Antal Szerb. Originally published in 1942, the book's first English translation was published in 2007. In the book, the restless ruler of an obscure Central European state plots a coup against himself and escapes to Venice in search of ‘real’ experience. There he falls in...
2007 ISBN (13) 978 1 901285 90 1 - The Queen's Necklace 2009 ISBN 978-1-906548-08-7
- Love in a Bottle 2010 ISBN 978 1 906548 285
Czech
- Pendragonská prisera 1946
- Pendragonská legenda 1985
- Tyran 1998
Dutch
- Reis bij maanlicht 2004 ISBN 978-90-5515-403-2
- Reis bij maanlicht 2005 Audiobook ISBN 978-90-7785-804-0
- De Pendragon Legende 2006 ISBN 978-90-5515-662-7
Finnish
- Pendragonin legenda 2008 ISBN 978-951-796-513-2
French
- La légende de Pendragon 1990 ISBN 2-7401-0000-0
- Le voyageur et le clair de lune 1992 ISBN 2-7401-0035-3
German
- Die Pendragon-Legende 1966 ISBN B0000BTJOF
- Die Pendragon-Legende 1978 ISBN 3-87680-773-5
- Die Pendragon-Legende 2004 ISBN 3-423-24425-9
- Der Wanderer und der Mond 1974
- Reise im Mondlicht 2003 ISBN 3-423-24370-8
- Das Halsband der Königin 2005 ISBN 3-423-13365-1
- Marie Antoinette oder Die unbeglichene Schuld (older translation of "Das Halsband der Königin") 1966 ISBN B0000BTJOE
- Oliver VII 1972 (published in East Germany)
- Oliver VII 2006 ISBN 3-423-13474-7
- In der Bibliothek (translation of "Szerelem a palackban") 2006 ISBN 3-423-24562-X
Italian
- La leggenda di Pendragon 1989
- Il viaggiatore e il chiaro di luna 1999
Polish
- Legenda Pendragonow 1971
- Podróżny i światło księżyca 1959
Slovak
- Prázdny hrob 1972
Slovenian
- Legenda o Pendragon 1980
Spanish
- El collar de la reina 1941
- El viajero bajo el resplandor de la luna 2000
- La leyenda de los Pendragon 2004
Serbian
- Putnik i mesečina 2009 ISBN 978-86-7979-284-6
- Legenda o Pendragonu 2010 ISBN 978-86-7979-326-3
External links
- PushkinPress.com English editions of works by the author
- Hungarian book foundation database
- review of "Journey by Moonlight at complete-review.com
- Guardian Review of Journey by Moonlight
- Guardian Review of The Pendragon Legend
- Review of Journey by Moonlight
- Essay by György Poszler in The Hungarian Quarterly autumn 2002
- A cached excerpt from History of World Literature
- a photo of the author at lyrikwelt.de
- Journey By Moonlight from Pushkin Press