Antal Szerb
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Antal Szerb (May 1, 1901, Budapest - January 27, 1945, Balf) was a noted Hungarian scholar and writer. He is recognized as one of the major Hungarian literary personalities of the 20th century.
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[edit] Life and work
Szerb was born in 1901 to assimilated Jewish parents in Budapest, but baptized 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. He was 43.
[edit] 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 Legend, ISBN 1-901285-60-X, 2006
- 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
- A világirodalom története, 1941 ("History of World Literature")
- VII. Olivér, 1943 ("Oliver the VIIth", published under the pseudonym A.H. Redcliff)
- tr.: Oliver VII ISBN (13) 978 1 901285 90 1
- A királyné nyaklánca, 1943 ("The Queen's Necklace")
- Száz vers, 1943/1944 ("100 poems")
[edit] Translations
English
- Journey by Moonlight
- The Pendragon Legend 2006 ISBN 1-901285-60-X (another translation published 1963)
- Oliver VII 2007 ISBN (13) 978 1 901285 90 1
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
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
[edit] 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
