Julio Baghy (13 January 1891,

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also other alternative names) is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád-Csanád county. The University of Szeged is one of the m ...

– 18 March 1967,

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 ...

; in Hungarian Baghy Gyula) was a Hungarian

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and one of the leading authors of the Esperanto movement. He is the author of several famous novels but it is particularly in the field of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

that he proved his mastery of Esperanto.

Early life

Baghy was born into a theatrical family — his father was an actor, and his mother a stage prompter. He began learning Esperanto in 1911. He started work as an actor and theatre manager, but the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

intervened and took him out of his home country for six years. He was captured and made a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

. It was during this time that he began to work for the Esperanto movement, writing poetry and teaching the language to his fellow inmates.

Literary works

Books

Baghy wrote two books on the subject of captivity in Siberia: ''Viktimoj'' (Victims, 1925), and ''Sur Sanga Tero'' (On Bloody Soil, 1933), republished together as a single volume in 1971. His satirical novel ''Hura!'' (Hooray!, 1930) was somewhat less of a success. Its sequel ''Insulo de Espero'' (Island of Hope) was lost during the war. His most famous novel ''Printempo en Aŭtuno'' (Spring in Autumn) was written in 1931.

Poetry

It is however for his poetry that Baghy is best known. His first poems were written during his time of captivity in Siberia. Hitherto those poets, such as Zamenhof, who had written in Esperanto were limited by the still young language, and apart from

Antoni Grabowski Antoni Grabowski (11 June 1857 – 4 July 1921)Julius Glück, ''El la klasika periodo de Esperanto (Grabowski kaj Kabe)'', en Muusses Esperanto Biblioteko No. 5, Purmerend, 1937. p. 6. was a Polish chemical engineer, and an activist of the early ...

, no poet had managed to make a mark on the language. Baghy's most significant collections of poems was his first: ''Preter la Vivo'' (Beyond Life, published in 1922). Among his more notable collection of poems are ''Pilgrimo'' (Pilgrim, 1926) and ''Vagabondo Kantas'' (The Vagabond Sings, 1933). In 1966 he produced ''Ĉielarko'' (Rainbow), retelling in verse folk tales from twelve different nations. His last collection of poems, ''Aŭtunaj folioj'' (Autumn leaves), was published posthumously in 1970.

Esperanto movement

Returning to Hungary after the war, he became one of the principal teachers of the Esperanto movement, organising newsgroups and literary evenings. In addition to working in his native Hungary, he organised courses in countries such as Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands and France. He was one of the principal writers for the Esperanto literary review ''Literatura Mondo'' until 1933. His works reflect a slogan of his: ''Amo kreas pacon, Paco konservas homecon, Homeco estas plej alta idealismo.'' (Love creates peace, Peace preserves humanity, Humanity is the highest ideal.) Several of his works were granted awards by the

Academy of Esperanto The Akademio de Esperanto (AdE; en, Academy of Esperanto, link=yes) is an independent body of Esperanto speakers who steward the evolution of said language by keeping it consistent with the ''Fundamento de Esperanto'' in accordance with the Decla ...

and a number of his novels have been translated into several languages.

Bibliography

*M. Boulton, ''Poeto fajrakora. La verkaro de Julio Baghy'', Saarbrücken: Artur E. Iltis, 1983. p. 144 *Clelia Conterno, ''Baghy tra la tempo'', in Literatura Foiro n. 43-44, jun-aŭg 1977, p 10-11 *G. Silfer, ''La leginda Baghy'', in Literatura Foiro n. 65, feb 1981, p 4-5

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baghy, Julio Writers of Esperanto literature Hungarian writers 1891 births 1967 deaths Hungarian Esperantists