Ferenc Karinthy (June 2, 1921 – February 29, 1992) was a Hungarian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

, as well as a

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

champion. He authored more than a dozen novels. His father was the writer and journalist

Frigyes Karinthy Frigyes Karinthy (; 25 June 1887 – 29 August 1938) was a Hungarian author, playwright, poet, journalist, and translator. He was the first proponent of the six degrees of separation concept, in his 1929 short story, ''Chains'' (''Láncszemek'') ...

. His mother, the psychiatrist Aranka Böhm, was killed in 1944 in

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. ''Spring Comes to Budapest'' was the first of Karinthy's novels to be translated into English (Corvina Press, 1964). His novel ''Epepe'' (''Metropole'') was later translated into English and published by Telegram Books in 2008.

Biography

Ferenc Karinthy was born in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, the second son of the Hungarian writer

. He wrote his first novel, ''Don Juan éjszakája'' (''Don Juan's night'') in 1943 while studying literature and linguistics at Pázmány Péter University. In 1945 he was awarded a PhD in linguistics. Karinthy worked as a script editor for Nemzeti Színház and Madách Theatre, as well as theatres in

Miskolc Miskolc ( , , ; Czech language, Czech and sk, Miškovec; german: Mischkolz; yi, script=Latn, Mishkoltz; ro, Mișcolț) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 (1 Jan 2014) Miskolc is the ...

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

and

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...

. Between 1957 and 1960, Karinthy translated a number of writers into Hungarian including Machiavelli and

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

. He won a number of awards for his own writing including the

Baumgarten Prize The Baumgarten Prize was founded by Ferenc Ferdinánd Baumgarten on October 17, 1923. It was awarded every year from 1929 to 1949 (except for 1945). In its time, it was the most prestigious literary prize awarded by Hungary and is considered as equ ...

, the

Attila József Prize The Attila József Prize is an annually awarded Hungarian literary prize for excellence in the field of belles-lettres. It was first presented in 1950 in honour of the poet Attila József. Another major Hungarian literary prize is the Kossuth Prize ...

and the

Kossuth Prize The Kossuth Prize ( hu, Kossuth-díj) is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1948 (on occasion of the centenary of the March 15th revolution, the ...

. Karinthy died in Budapest in 1992. ''Napló'' (''Journal''), the diary Karinthy kept between 1969 and 1991, was published posthumously in 1994.

''Epepe'' (''Metropole'')

''Epepe'', written in 1970, is the most well-known of Karinthy's novels to be translated into English, appearing as ''Metropole'' in 2008.Ferenc Karinthy's ''Metropole''
by

Robert Buckeye The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

in ''

Words Without Borders ''Words Without Borders'' (''WWB'') is an international magazine open to international exchange through translation, publication, and promotion of the world's best writing and authors who are not easily accessible to English-speaking readers. The ...

'', November 2008. This essentially Kafkaesque tale follows the travails of Budai, a linguist who steps off a plane expecting to be in Helsinki but finds himself in a sprawling and densely populated metropolis whose residents speak an unknown and unintelligible language. Budai is swept along with the crowd to a hotel, where he tries in vain to explain his predicament. With no route home apparent, Budai spends his days trying to learn what he can about the city and the language but is frustrated at every turn. The only person with whom he has any kind of relationship is Epepe, who operates the lift in his hotel. But even she can't help when Budai's money runs out and his situation becomes ever more desperate.

Bibliography

* ''Don Juan éjszakája (Don Juan's night)'' (1943) * ''Szellemidézés'' (1947) * ''Budapesti tavasz (Spring Comes to Budapest)'' (1953) * ''Hazai tudósítások (Reports from Home)'' (1954) * ''Irodalmi történetek (Literary Stories)'' (1956) * ''Ferencvárosi szív (A Fan of Ferencváros)'' (1959) * ''Négykezes (Piece for Four Hands)'' (1967) * ''Epepe (Metropole)'' (1970) * ''Harminchárom (Thirty-three)'' (1977) * ''Napló (Journal)'' (1994)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Karinthy Ferenc Hungarian writers Translators to Hungarian 1921 births 1992 deaths 20th-century translators