Magda szabo biography

Hungarian novelist

This article is end in the Hungarian writer. For excellence Canadian miniaturist, see Magda Szabo.

The native form of this correctly name is Szabó Magda. This feature uses Western name order considering that mentioning individuals.

Magda Szabó (5 Oct 1917 – 19 November 2007) was a Hungarian novelist.

Healer of philology, she also wrote dramas, essays, studies, memoirs, meaning and children's literature. She was a founding member of depiction Digital Literary Academy [hu], an on the net digital repository of Hungarian scholarship. She is the most translated Hungarian author, with publications hostage 42 countries and over 30 languages.^[1][2]

Early life

Magda Szabó was inherent in Debrecen, Austria-Hungary in 1917.^[3] Her father, Elek Szabó (1879–1959), an academic and public defensible, taught her to speak Serious fluently from childhood, gave disgruntlement the foundation of her finish knowledge of European antiquity bracket an appreciation of ancient Standard and Greek history and belleslettres.

Her mother, Lenke Jablonczay (1884–1967), was herself a writer, granted her works were never available. The influence and example tactic her parents played an main part in Szabó’s life. Story and playing theatre were diurnal activities in her childhood, both with her parents and gross herself.^[4]

Szabó graduated from secondary college in 1935 in the Dóczy Institute for Girls’ Education spot Debrecen (today Dóczy Gymnasium nigh on the Reformed College of Debrecen [hu]), where she had studied endorse twelve years.

She studied take upon yourself become a teacher of Magyar and Latin at the István Tisza Hungarian Royal University waste Science (today University of Debrecen), graduating in 1940. She extremely commented on her tertiary cultivation, except for stating that she considered it to have anachronistic ‘conservative’ and ‘old-fashioned’, and dump she received little support detain develop as a writer.

She wrote her thesis on superficial practices in ancient Rome. She referred to this as ingenious doctoral dissertation, but literary registrar Endre Bakó claims not make somebody's acquaintance have found documentation of Szabó pursuing a doctorate.^[4]

In 1943 weather 1944, she taught in high-mindedness Reformed (Hungarian Calvinist) girls’s gym of Hódmezővásárhely.

She wrote spruce up verse novel titled Szüret (‘Harvest’) about her experiences during Nature War II, which she unique published in 1975. After say publicly war, she moved to Budapest. From 1945 until her removal in 1949, she worked significance an officer on film, thence literature at the Ministry delineate Religious and Public Educational Affairs [hu].^[4] She married fellow writer delighted translator Tibor Szobotka [hu] (1913–1982) run to ground 1947.^[5]

Multiple books by Szabó shard autofictional (Ókut/‘The Ancient Well’, 1970; Régimódi történet/‘Old-Fashioned Story’, 1977; Für Elise, 2002).

Their (unacknowledged) imaginary elements, which are incompatible connote each other, make details for Szabó’s personal life, childhood, pivotal family relationships difficult to ascertain.^[4]

Writing career

Szabó began her writing life as a poet and reap 1947 she published her important book of poetry, Bárány ("Lamb"), which was followed by Vissza az emberig ("Back to authority Human") in 1949.^[6] In 1949 she was awarded the Baumgarten Prize, which was immediately shrinking when Szabó was labelled put down enemy to the Communist Party.^[7] She was dismissed from rendering Ministry in the same year.^[7] The Stalinist era from 1949 to 1956 censored any writings, such as Szabó's work, defer did not conform to bolshevik realism.^[8] Since her husband was also censored by the red regime, she was forced cue teach in a Calvinist girls' school until 1959.^[8][1][9]

She wrote in return first novel, Freskó ("Fresco") before these years, and it was published in 1958.^[6] The fresh tells the story of well-ordered puritan family coming together sponsor a funeral, and examines questions of hypocrisy and Hungarian history.^[2] In the same year, she published another book of metrical composition, Bárány Boldizsár ("Lawrence the Lamb"), and a novel for lower female readers, Mondják meg Zsófikának (translated into English as "Tell Sally ...").^[2]

Az őz ("The Fawn"), published in 1959, is unornamented novel centred around an entertainer and her struggle to conquer a difficult, impoverished childhood.^[1] Envelop this novel, Szabó effectively portrays the psychological, internal world unscrew the modern woman.^[1] In 1961 and 1962, Szabó published combine more novels for young squadron, Álarcosbál ("Masked Ball") and Születésnap ("Birthday") respectively.^[6][1]Pilátus ("Iza's Ballad"), excellence story of a female stretch and her relationship with companion mother, was published in 1963.^[10]Tündér Lala ("Lara the Fairy"), foil 1965 novel, is one brake the most popular novels annoyed children written in Hungarian.^[6][2] Just the thing 1969, she published Katalin utca ("Katalin Street"), a realistic characterization of post-World War II life.^[1] Her most widely read version Abigél ("Abigail", 1970) is minor adventure story about a juvenile girl living in a Necessitarian girls-only school in eastern Magyarorszag during World War II.

Justness novel's success resulted in precise TV series, produced in 1978;^[1] the novel was also modified into a musical that premiered in March 2008. In 1971, Szabó began a series tension autobiographical works, which depict second family history. The first manage this series is the limited novel, Ókút ("The Ancient Well"), followed by Régimódi történet ("Old-Fashioned Story").^[1][2] In 2002, Szabó drawn-out this autobiographical series with Für Elise, a recollection of nobility author's life from 1917 earn 1935.^[1] Today, this is solitary of her most popular complex in Hungarian.^[1]

In 1975, Szabó in print a collection of plays styled Az órák és a farkasok ("The Wolf Hours").^[2] She publicized two more dramas in 1984, Erőnk szerint ("According to After everyone else Strength") and Béla Király ("King Béla").^[2]

Her novel Az ajtó (The Door) was published in 1987 and would become one a choice of her most famous works worldwide.^[1] The novel revolves around primacy relationship between two women, put the finishing touches to a prominent Hungarian writer unnecessary like Szabó herself, and interpretation other her cryptic housekeeper.^[1]Claire Messud writes in the New Dynasty Times that reading The Door, has completely changed her judgment on life while Cynthia Zarin, contributor to The New Yorker, calls it "a bone-shaking book."^[7]The Door was translated into In good faith in 1995 by Stefan Draughon and again in 2005 unhelpful Len Rix.^[11]

Lucy Jeffery discusses in whatever way Szabó’s descriptions of the lackey in Iza's Ballad, Katalin Street, and The Door convey probity impact of Hungary’s troubled national history on the concept have a high opinion of the home/homeland.

Jeffery suggests lapse 'as Szabó interweaves politics, creative spirit, and the domestic, her novels become politically motivated acts bad deal breaking an enforced silence.'^[12] Incline their discussion of Szabó's boastfully novel Abigél, Lucy Jeffery abide Anna Váradi highlight the help of the identity of nobility Hungarian nation to Szabó, disagreement that it is one divest yourself of the novelists prevailing themes.

Jeffery and Váradi conclude their section by remarking that 'In Abigél, Szabó demonstrates that in excellence wake of Trianon, negotiations amidst the distinctiveness of Hungarian educative identity on the one facilitate and a uniform, systematised epidemic space on the other fasten together divisive and inconclusive results put off lead to a split acutance of Hungary as Nagymagyarország dowel Hungary as Magyarország.'^[13]

Selected bibliography

• Mondják meg Zsófikának (1958).

  Tell Sally..., trans. Ursula McLean (Corvina Press, 1963).

• Az őz (1959). The Fawn, trans. Kathleen Szasz (J. Cape, 1963; Knopf, 1963); later by Len Rix (New York Review Books, 2023).
• Disznótor (1960). Night of grandeur Pig-Killing, trans. Kathleen Szasz (J. Cape, 1965; Knopf, 1966).^[14]
• Pilátus (1963).

  Iza's Ballad, trans. George Szirtes (Harvill Secker, 2014; New Royalty Review Books, 2016).

• Katalin utca (1969). Katalin Street, trans. Agnes Farkas Smith (Kids 4 Kids, 2005); later by Len Rix (New York Review Books, 2017).
• Abigél (1970). Abigail, trans. Len Rix (New York Review Books, 2020).^[15]
• Az ajtó (1987).

  The Door, trans. Stefan Draughon (East European Monographs, 1995); later by Len Rix (Harvill Press, 2005; New York Consider Books, 2015).^[11]

Awards and prizes

Tribute

On 5 October 2017, Google celebrated kill 100th birthday with a Dmoz Doodle.^[24]

References

External links