Miklós Radnóti
Encyclopedia
Miklós Radnóti, birth name Miklós Glatter (5 May 1909 – 10 November 1944) was a Hungarian
poet
who died in The Holocaust
.
into an assimilated
Jewish family. His life was considerably shaped by the fact that both his mother and his twin
brother died at his birth. He refers to this trauma
in the title of his compilation Ikrek hava ("Month of Gemini
"/"Month of the Twins").
In his last years, Hungarian society rejected Radnóti as a Jew, but in his poems he identifies himself very strongly as a Hungarian. His poetry mingles avant-garde
and expressionist
themes with a new classical style, a good example being his eclogue
s. His romantic love poetry is notable as well. Some of his early poetry was published in the short-lived periodical Haladás
("Progress"). His 1935 marriage to Fanni Gyarmati (born 1912) was exceptionally happy.
Radnóti converted to Catholicism
in 1943. Numerous Jewish writers converted to Christianity at that time due to the antisemitism that was pervasive in Hungarian society at the time. Radnóti also admired his former professor of literature, the Piarist
priest Sándor Sík.
) ("labour batallion"). The battalion assigned to the Ukrainian front, and then in May 1944 the Hungarian Army retreated and his battalion was transferred to the copper mines in Bor, Serbia
. In August 1944 as Yugoslav Partisans led by Josip Tito
advanced, Radnóti's group of 3,200 Hungarian Jews was force-marched to central Hungary. On the march most of them died, including Radnóti.
In these last months of his life Radnóti continued to write poems in a small notebook he kept with him. His last poem was dedicated to his friend Miklós Lorsi
, who was shot to death during their death march. According to witnesses, in early November 1944, Radnóti was severely beaten by a drunken militiaman who had been tormenting him for "scribbling". Too weak to continue, he was shot into a mass grave near the village of Abda
in northwestern Hungary. Today, a statue next to the road commemorates his place of death.
Radnóti's body was later reinterred in Budapest's Kerepesi Cemetery
.
His works were translated into Croatian language by Hungarian Croat poet Stjepan Blažetin
. Croatian literatury critics describe Radnóti as "Hungarian Šimić
.
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...
poet
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
who died in The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
.
Personality and early life
Radnóti was born in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
into an assimilated
Jewish assimilation
Jewish assimilation refers to the cultural assimilation and social integration of Jews in their surrounding culture. Assimilation became legally possible in Europe during the Age of Enlightenment.-Background:Judaism forbids the worship of other gods...
Jewish family. His life was considerably shaped by the fact that both his mother and his twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
brother died at his birth. He refers to this trauma
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
in the title of his compilation Ikrek hava ("Month of Gemini
Gemini (astrology)
Gemini is the third astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the Zodiac between the 60th and 89th degree of celestial longitude. Generally, the Sun transits this area of the zodiac between May 21 to June 20 each year...
"/"Month of the Twins").
In his last years, Hungarian society rejected Radnóti as a Jew, but in his poems he identifies himself very strongly as a Hungarian. His poetry mingles avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
and expressionist
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
themes with a new classical style, a good example being his eclogue
Eclogue
An eclogue is a poem in a classical style on a pastoral subject. Poems in the genre are sometimes also called bucolics.The form of the word in contemporary English is taken from French eclogue, from Old French, from Latin ecloga...
s. His romantic love poetry is notable as well. Some of his early poetry was published in the short-lived periodical Haladás
Alfred Reynolds (writer)
Alfred Reynolds was a writer on social and religious topics.-Biography:Reynolds was born into a wealthy family in Budapest, of a Jewish mother and a Roman Catholic father. He was educated at schools in Budapest and Vienna and at the University of Leipzig...
("Progress"). His 1935 marriage to Fanni Gyarmati (born 1912) was exceptionally happy.
Radnóti converted to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
in 1943. Numerous Jewish writers converted to Christianity at that time due to the antisemitism that was pervasive in Hungarian society at the time. Radnóti also admired his former professor of literature, the Piarist
Piarists
The Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools or, in short, Piarists , is the name of the oldest Catholic educational order also known as the Scolopi, Escolapios or Poor Clerics of the Mother of God...
priest Sándor Sík.
In the Holocaust
In the early forties Radnóti was conscripted by the Hungarian Army, but being a Jew he was assigned to an unarmed (munkaszolgálatLabour service (Hungary)
Labour service arose in Hungary during World War II as the required military substitution for Jewish men, who were no longer permitted to serve in the regular armed forces since the passing of the Hungarian anti-Jewish laws...
) ("labour batallion"). The battalion assigned to the Ukrainian front, and then in May 1944 the Hungarian Army retreated and his battalion was transferred to the copper mines in Bor, Serbia
Bor, Serbia
Bor is a town and municipality located in eastern Serbia, with one of the largest copper mines in Europe and it has been a mining centre since 1904, when a French company began operations there. It is the administrative center of the Bor District of Serbia...
. In August 1944 as Yugoslav Partisans led by Josip Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
advanced, Radnóti's group of 3,200 Hungarian Jews was force-marched to central Hungary. On the march most of them died, including Radnóti.
In these last months of his life Radnóti continued to write poems in a small notebook he kept with him. His last poem was dedicated to his friend Miklós Lorsi
Miklós Lorsi
Miklós Lorsi was a Jewish Hungarian violinist who was killed during the Holocaust. The manner of his death, and allusion to his art as a violinist formed the line "already taut, a string about to snap" in the last poem of Miklós Radnóti....
, who was shot to death during their death march. According to witnesses, in early November 1944, Radnóti was severely beaten by a drunken militiaman who had been tormenting him for "scribbling". Too weak to continue, he was shot into a mass grave near the village of Abda
Abda, Hungary
Abda is a village in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.- External links :* *...
in northwestern Hungary. Today, a statue next to the road commemorates his place of death.
Posthumous discovery of his last works
Eighteen months after his death, the mass grave was exhumed and in the front pocket of Radnóti's overcoat his small notebook of final poems was found. The final poems are lyrical and poignant and represent some of the few works of literature composed during the Holocaust that survived. Possibly his best known poem is the fourth stanza of the Razglednicák, where he describes the shooting of another man and then envisions his own death.Radnóti's body was later reinterred in Budapest's Kerepesi Cemetery
Kerepesi Cemetery
Kerepesi Cemetery is the most famous cemetery in Budapest...
.
Books
- Pogány köszöntő (Pagan Greeting) - 1930
- Újmódi pásztorok éneke (Modern shepherds' song) - 1931
- Lábadozó szél (Convalescent Wind) - 1933
- Újhold (New Moon) - 1935
- Járkálj csak, halálraítélt! (Walk On, Condemned!) - 1936
- Meredek út (Steep Road) - 1938
- Naptár (Calendar) - 1942
- Tajtékos ég (Frothy Sky) - 1946
- Radnóti Miklós művei (Works of Miklos Radnoti) - 1978, ISBN 9631511820
His works were translated into Croatian language by Hungarian Croat poet Stjepan Blažetin
Stjepan Blažetin
Blazsetin István is a Croatian poet, literature critic, literature historian and literature theorist, translator and anthologist from Hungary. He translates literary works from Hungarian to the Croatian language.- Biography :Stjepan Blažetin is the son of the Croatian poet from Hungary, Stipan...
. Croatian literatury critics describe Radnóti as "Hungarian Šimić
Antun Branko Šimic
Antun Branko Šimić was a Herzegovinian Croat expressionist poet.-Life:He was born in Drinovci near Grude on November 18, 1898, in the family of Vida and Martin Šimić. He attended primary school in his native village, and then the first three forms of the Franciscan classical grammar school in...
.