Imre Kertész
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Imre Kertész (; 9 November 192931 March 2016) was a Hungarian author and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature, "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history". He was the first Hungarian to win the Nobel in Literature. His works deal with themes of
the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
(he was a survivor of a German concentration camp), dictatorship and personal freedom.


Life and work

Kertész was born in Budapest, Hungary, on 9 November 1929, the son of Aranka Jakab and László Kertész, a middle-class Jewish couple. After his parents separated when he was around the age of five, Kertész attended a boarding school and, in 1940, he started secondary school where he was put into a special class for Jewish students. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Kertész was deported in 1944 at the age of 14 with other
Hungarian Jews The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived i ...
to the
Auschwitz concentration camp 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 ...
, and was later sent to
Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...
. Upon his arrival at the camps, Kertész claimed to be a 16-year old worker, thus saving him from the instant extermination that awaited a 14-year-old. After his camp was liberated in 1945, Kertész returned to Budapest, graduated from high school in 1948, and then went on to find work as a journalist and translator. In 1951, he lost his job at the journal ''Világosság'' (Clarity) after the publication started leaning towards Communism. For a short term he worked as a factory worker and then in the press department of the Ministry of Heavy Industry. From 1953 he started freelance journalism and translated various works into Hungarian, including
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
,
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
,
Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considere ...
, and
Elias Canetti Elias Canetti (; bg, Елиас Канети; 25 July 1905 – 14 August 1994) was a German-language writer, born in Ruse, Bulgaria to a Sephardic family. They moved to Manchester, England, but his father died in 1912, and his mother took her t ...
. His best-known work, ''
Fatelessness ''Fateless'' or ''Fatelessness'' ( hu, Sorstalanság, ) is a novel by Imre Kertész, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for literature, written between 1960 and 1973 and first published in 1975. The novel is a semi-autobiographical story about a 14- ...
'' (''Sorstalanság''), describes the experience of 15-year-old György (George) Köves in the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Buchenwald and
Zeitz Zeitz ( hsb, Žič) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. History Zeitz was first recorded und ...
. Written between 1969 and 1973, the novel was initially rejected for publication by the Communist regime in Hungary, but was published in 1975. Some have interpreted the book as quasi-autobiographical, but the author disavows a strong biographical connection. The book would go on to become part of many high school curriculums in Hungary. In 2005, a film based on the novel, for which he wrote the script, was made in Hungary. Although sharing the same title, some reviews noted that the film was more autobiographical than the novel on which it was based. It was released internationally at various dates in 2005 and 2006. Following on from ''Fatelessness'', Kertész's ''Fiasco'' (1988) and '' Kaddish for an Unborn Child'' (1990) are, respectively, the second and third parts of his Holocaust trilogy. His writings translated into English include ''Kaddish for an Unborn Child'' (''Kaddis a meg nem született gyermekért'') and ''Liquidation'' (''Felszámolás''), the latter set during the period of Hungary's evolution into a democracy from communist rule. From the beginning, Kertész found little appreciation for his writing in Hungary, and he moved to Germany where he received more active support from publishers and reviewers, along with more appreciative readers. After his move, he continued translating German works into Hungarian, notably ''
The Birth of Tragedy ''The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music'' (german: Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik) is a 1872 work of dramatic theory by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It was reissued in 1886 as ''The Birth of Tragedy, Or ...
'', the plays of Dürrenmatt,
Schnitzler There have been several people named Schnitzler ( he, שניצלר): * Arthur Schnitzler (born 1862), an Austrian playwright and author, son of Johann * Barbara Schnitzler (born 1953, Berlin), a German actress (de) * Claude Schnitzler (born 1949, ...
, and
Tankred Dorst Tankred Dorst (19 December 1925 – 1 June 2017) was a German playwright and storyteller. Dorst lived and worked in Munich. His farces, parables, one-act-plays and adaptations were inspired by the theatre of the absurd and the works of Ionesco ...
, and various thoughts and aphorisms of
Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrians, Austrian-British people, British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy o ...
. Kertész also continued working at his craft, writing his fiction in Hungarian but did not publish another novel until the late 1980s. From that point on, he submitted his work to publishers in Hungary. Grateful that he had found his most significant success as a writer and artist in Germany, Kertész left his
abatement Abatement refers generally to a lessening, diminution, reduction, or moderation; specifically, it may refer to: * 421-a tax abatement, property tax exemption in the U.S. state of New York * Abatement of debts and legacies, a common law doctrine ...
to the
Academy of Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. In November 2013, Kertész underwent successful surgery on his right hip after falling down in his home. However, he continued to deal with various health concerns during the last few years of his life. He was diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
, and was again suffering from depression, reported to have been a recurring battle in his life. In fact, Kertész had struggled with this same issue in his writing, as the main character of his 2003 book ''Felszámolás'' (''Liquidation'') commits suicide after struggling with depression. Kertész died on 31 March 2016, at the age of 86, at his home in Budapest after suffering from Parkinson's for several years.


Controversy

Kertész was a controversial figure within Hungary, especially since being Hungary's first and only
Nobel Laureate in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...
, he still lived in Germany. This tension was exacerbated by a 2009 interview with ''
Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...
'', in which Kertész vowed himself a "
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
er" and called Budapest "completely balkanized." Many Hungarian newspapers reacted negatively to this statement, claiming it to be hypocritical. Other critics viewed the Budapest comment ironically, saying it represented "a grudge policy that is painfully and unmistakably, characteristically Hungarian." Kertész later clarified in a
Duna TV Duna (English: ''Duna Channel'', formerly: ''Duna Televízió'') is one of Hungary's public television channels. "Duna" is the Hungarian name for the Danube. Duna has been the ''national main channel'' of the public media MTVA since 15 March ...
interview that he had intended his comment to be "constructive" and called Hungary "his homeland". Also controversial was Kertész's criticism of
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
's depiction of the Holocaust in the 1993 film ''
Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...
'' as
kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...
, saying: "I regard as kitsch any representation of the Holocaust that is incapable of understanding or unwilling to understand the organic connection between our own deformed mode of life (whether in the private sphere or on the level of 'civilization' as such) and the very possibility of the Holocaust." In November 2014 Kertész was the subject of an interview with ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. Kertész claimed the reporter was expecting him to question Hungary's democratic values and was shocked to hear Kertész say that "the situation in Hungary is nice, I'm having a great time." According to Kertész, "he didn't like my answer. His purpose must have been to make me call Hungary a dictatorship which it isn't. In the end the interview was never published."


List of works

* '' Sorstalanság'' (1975) **''Fateless'', translated by Christopher C. Wilson and Katharina M. Wilson (1992). Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. and **''Fatelessness'', translated by
Tim Wilkinson Timothy David Wilkinson (born 26 July 1978) is a professional golfer from New Zealand. Biography Wilkinson was born in Palmerston North, and was educated at St Peter's College. He won the New Zealand Stroke Play Championship in 2000 and tur ...
(2004). New York: Vintage International. * '' A nyomkereső'' (1977) ** ''The Pathseeker'', translated by Tim Wilkinson (2008). Brooklyn, New York:
Melville House Publishing Melville House Publishing is an American independent publisher of literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The company was founded in 2001 and is run by the husband-and-wife team of Dennis Loy Johnson and Valerie Merians in Hoboken, New Jersey. T ...
. * ''Detektívtörténet'' (1977) ** ''Detective Story'', translated by Tim Wilkinson (2008). London: Harvill Secker. * ''A kudarc'' (1988) ** ''Fiasco'', translated by Tim Wilkinson (2011). Brooklyn, New York:
Melville House Publishing Melville House Publishing is an American independent publisher of literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The company was founded in 2001 and is run by the husband-and-wife team of Dennis Loy Johnson and Valerie Merians in Hoboken, New Jersey. T ...
. * ''
Kaddis a meg nem született gyermekért ''Kaddish for an Unborn Child'' ( hu, Kaddis a meg nem született gyermekért) is a novel by Imre Kertész, first published in 1990 (). The novel deals with the struggles of a Holocaust survivor after the war, explaining to a friend why he cannot ...
'' (1990) ** ''Kaddish for a Child Not Born'', translated by Christopher C. Wilson and Katharina M. Wilson (1997). Evanston, Illinois: Hydra Books. ** ''Kaddish for an Unborn Child'', translated by Tim Wilkinson (2004), New York: Vintage International. * ''Az angol lobogó'' (1991) ** ''The Union Jack'', translated by Tim Wilkinson (2010). Brooklyn, New York:
Melville House Publishing Melville House Publishing is an American independent publisher of literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The company was founded in 2001 and is run by the husband-and-wife team of Dennis Loy Johnson and Valerie Merians in Hoboken, New Jersey. T ...
. * ''Gályanapló'' (1992) * ''A holocaust mint kultúra: Három előadás'' (1993) * ''Jegyzőkönyv'' (1993) * ''Valaki más: A változás krónikája'' (1997) * ''A gondolatnyi csend, amíg a kivégzőosztag újratölt'' (1998) * ''A száműzött nyelv'' (2001) * ''Felszámolás'' (2003) ** ''Liquidation'', translated by Tim Wilkinson (2004). New York:
Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...
. * ''K. dosszié'' (2006) ** ''Dossier K'', translated by Tim Wilkinson (2013). Brooklyn, New York:
Melville House Publishing Melville House Publishing is an American independent publisher of literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The company was founded in 2001 and is run by the husband-and-wife team of Dennis Loy Johnson and Valerie Merians in Hoboken, New Jersey. T ...
. * ''Európa nyomasztó öröksége'' (2008) * ''Mentés másként'' (2011) * ''A végső kocsma'' (2014)


Awards and honors


International prizes

* 1992, 1995: Soros Prize * 1995: Brandenburg Literature Prize * 1997:
Friedrich-Gundolf-Preis Friedrich-Gundolf-Preis is a literary prize of Germany. It was established by the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung in 1964 to promote German culture outwith Germany. The award is named after the Germanist Friedrich Gundolf. The award ...
* 1997: Darmstadt Academy Prize * 1997: Jeanette Schocken Preis Jeanette Schocken Preis
(in German) jeanette-schocken-preis.de
* 2000:
Herder Prize The Herder Prize (german: Gottfried-von-Herder-Preis), named after the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), was a prestigious international prize awarded every year from 1964 to 2006 to scholars and artists from Central and Sout ...
* 2000: ''Welt''-Literaturpreis * 2001:
Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...
(Germany) * 2002: Hans Sahl Prize * 2002:
Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...
* 2003:
YIVO YIVO (Yiddish: , ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. (The word '' ...
Lifetime Achievement Award * 2004:
Corine Literature Prize The Corine – International Book Prize, as it is officially called, is a German literature prize created by the Bavarian chapter of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, first awarded in 2001. It is awarded to German and international "aut ...
* 2004:
Goethe Medal The Goethe Medal, also known as the Goethe-Medaille, is a yearly prize given by the Goethe-Institut honoring non-Germans "who have performed outstanding service for the German language and for international cultural relations". It is an offici ...
* 2009:
Jean Améry Jean Améry (31 October 191217 October 1978), born Hanns Chaim Mayer, was an Austrian-born essayist whose work was often informed by his experiences during World War II. His most celebrated work, ''At the Mind's Limits: Contemplations by a Survi ...
Prize * 2011: Grande Médaille de Vermeil de la ville de Paris


Hungarian prizes

* 1983: Milán Füst Prize * 1986: Hieronymus Prize * 1988: Artisjus Literature Prize * 1989: Aszu Prize * 1989:
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 ...
* 1997:
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 ...
* 2002: Honorary Citizen of Budapest * 2014:
Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen The Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen ( Hungarian: ''Magyar Szent István Rend'') is the highest state honour bestowed by the President of Hungary. The order is made up of one grade which is "Grand Cross". History The order's origins can be t ...


See also

*
Hungarian literature Hungarian literature is the body of written works primarily produced in Hungarian,
*
List of Jewish Nobel laureates Nobel Prizes have been awarded to over 900 individuals, of whom at least 20% were Jews. * * * * * * * * The number of Jews receiving Nobel prizes has been the subject of some attention.* * *"Jews rank high among winners of Nobel, but why ...


References


Further reading

* Molnár, Sára.
Nobel in Literature 2002 Imre Kertész's Aesthetics of the Holocaust
''CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture'' 5.1 (2003) * Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven.
And the 2002 Nobel Prize for Literature Goes to Imre Kertész, Jew and Hungarian
''CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture'' 5.1 (2003) * Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven.

''CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture'' 7.4 (2005) * Vasvári, Louise O., and Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven, eds. ''Imre Kertész and Holocaust Literature''. West Lafayette: Purdue UP, 2005. * Vasvári, Louise O., and Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven, eds. ''Comparative Central European Holocaust Studies''. West Lafayette: Purdue UP, 2009.


External links


Imre Kertész
Nobel Luminaries – Jewish Nobel Prize Winners, on th
Beit Hatfutsot-The Museum of the Jewish People
Website.

from Holocaust Survivors and Remembrance Project: "Forget You Not" *
List of Works


a review of the novel ''Liquidation'' by Ben Ehrenreich, ''
Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...
'', 20 December 2004
Haaretz article on Kertész
* 2011 Interview on
Self-imposed exile and writing
with Swedish publisher Svante Weyler. * including the Nobel Lecture 7 December 2002 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kertesz, Imre 1929 births 2016 deaths Nobel laureates in Literature Hungarian Nobel laureates Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Hungarian expatriates in Germany Hungarian Jews Hungarian male novelists Jewish novelists Jewish Hungarian-language writers Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Writers from Budapest Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) 20th-century Hungarian male writers 21st-century Hungarian male writers 20th-century Hungarian novelists 21st-century Hungarian novelists Herder Prize recipients Attila József Prize recipients Neurological disease deaths in Hungary Deaths from Parkinson's disease Members of the Széchenyi Academy of Literature and Arts