Hungarian writer and politician (1847?1910)
Kalman Mikszath de Kiscsolto
(16 January 1847 ? 28 May 1910) was a widely reputed
Hungarian
novelist, journalist, and politician. His work remains in print in Hungarian and still appears from time to time in other languages.
Biography
[
edit
]
Mikszath was born in
Szklabonya
(also known as Sklabina or Szlabonya),
[note 1]
Upper Hungary
(now
Sklabina
,
Slovakia
) into a family of the
lesser nobility
. He studied law at the
University of Budapest
from 1866 to 1869, although he did not apply for any exam, and became involved in journalism, writing for many Hungarian newspapers including the
Pesti Hirlap
[
hu
]
.
Mikszath's early short stories were based on the lives of peasants and artisans and had little appeal at the time. However, they demonstrated his skill in crafting humorous anecdotes, which would be developed in his later, more popular works. Many of his novels contained social commentary and
satire
, and towards the end of his life they became increasingly critical of the aristocracy and the burden he believed the latter placed on Hungarian society.
Mikszath was a member of the
Liberal Party
, and in 1887 was elected to the
Diet of Hungary
(one of the two top legislatures in
Austria-Hungary
).
[1]
Until 1879 he was the representative for the
Illyefalva
District in
Transylvania
, and from 1892 until his death he represented the
Fogaras
District. During his time in the Diet, he lived at Dohnanyi utca 28 in central
Budapest
.
In 1910, the village he was born was renamed Mikszathfalva during his 40th annual writer's jubilee.
[2]
Kalman Mikszath was buried in
Kerepesi Cemetery
in
Budapest
, alongside his sons Janos (1886?1890) and Albert (1889?1921).
Reception
[
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]
U.S. President
Theodore Roosevelt
enjoyed his novel
St. Peter's Umbrella
so much that he visited Mikszath solely to express his admiration, during a European trip in 1910.
[3]
Mikszath's work remains popular in Hungary and has been translated sporadically into other languages. The translation of
St. Peter's Umbrella
reappeared in 2012, 2018 and 2019.
The Siege of Beszterce
was republished in English in 2014 and
The Town in Black
(
A fekete varos
, 1911) appeared in 2011.
[4]
Selected works
[
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]
- The Slovak Relations
(1881)
- The Good People of Palocz
(1882)
(hyperlinked on 20 January 2021)
- Anna Bede's Debt
[5]
- The Grass of Lohina
(1885)
- Two Beggar-Students
(1886)
- The Postmaster General
(1886)
- The Magic Caftan
(1889)
- St. Peter's Umbrella
(1895)
- The Siege of Beszterce
(1896), adapted as an opera by
Jan Cikker
- The Gentry
(1897)
- Two Elections in Hungary
(1896 and 1899)
- New Zrinyiad
(1898)
- A Strange Marriage
(1900)
- The Women of Szelistye
(1901)
- The Young Noszty's Affair with Mari Toth
(1908)
- The Town in Black
(1908?1910, set in the town of
L?cse
)
Notes
[
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]
- ^
In parentheses are official names valid and used in 1808?1863
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Schlosser, Christine (2020),
"Pet?fi, Sandor: Die Versepik"
,
Kindlers Literatur Lexikon (KLL)
, Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler, pp. 1?2,
doi
:
10.1007/978-3-476-05728-0_16375-1
,
ISBN
978-3-476-05728-0
,
S2CID
229658528
, retrieved
2022-11-14
- ^
M?czak, Antoni (2017-01-01),
"Reliquien"
,
Eine Kutsche ist wie eine Straßendirne ...
, Brill | Schoningh, pp. 161?166,
doi
:
10.30965/9783657784851_015
,
ISBN
9783657784851
, retrieved
2022-11-15
- ^
Article in New York Times, April 24, 1910
- ^
Translated by Bernard Adams. Budapest, Corvina, 2011.
- ^
Mikszath, Kalman; Jopson, N. B. (1926).
"Anna Bede's Debt"
.
The Slavonic Review
.
5
(13): 128?131.
ISSN
1471-7816
.
JSTOR
4202035
. Retrieved
1 November
2022
.
External links
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The list is by chronological order.
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Early sources
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14th century
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15th century
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15th ? 16th century
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16th century
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16th ? 17th century
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17th century
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17th ? 18th century
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18th century
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18th ? 19th century
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19th century
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19th ? 20th century
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20th century
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20th ? 21st century
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Contemporary
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International
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National
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Academics
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People
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Other
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