József Romhányi (8 March 1921 – 7 May 1983) was a
Hungarian writer, poet, translator, and artist.
Originally he wanted to be a musician and learned
viola
The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
in the ''Székesfővárosi Felsőbb Zenei Iskola'' musical school. From 1951 he worked as a playreader on Hungarian Radio, and in 1957 he became the director of the art department of the Hungarian State Concert and Programme Directorate. Between 1960 and 1962 he was the director of the popular art section of
Hungarian Television. From 1962 he was a playreader in the Main Musical Department of Hungarian Radio.
He wrote several
libretto
A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
s for Hungarian operas, including ''Hunyady'' for
Rezső Sugár (1953), ''Báthory Zsigmond'' for
Horusitzky Zoltán (1960), and ''Muzsikus Péter'' for
György Ránki (1963).
He translated several operas and musicals into
Hungarian; the best known is ''
Cats
The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...
''.
He wrote scripts for the cartoons ''
Lúdas Matyi'' and ''Hófehér''.
He is known for his animal poems that were released after his death with the title ''Szamárfül'' ("Earmark" and "Ear of a Donkey").
He is perhaps best known for the scripts of various Hungarian cartoon series, including ''
Mézga Család'' (
The Gums), the ''Kérem a következőt!'' ("Next, please!" or "Dr. Bubo", 1973–74) and some translations for
dubbed versions of American cartoons, like the rhyming translation of ''
The Flintstones
''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the R ...
'' and of ''
Huckleberry Hound
Huckleberry "Huck" Hound is a fictional cartoon character, a blue dog who speaks with a North Carolina accent. He first appeared in the series ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. The cartoon was one of six TV shows to win an Emmy Award in 1960 as a ...
''. He was nicknamed ''"Romhányi, a rímhányó"'', a rhyme meaning "Romhanyi the Rhyme-Caster".
Sources
* Reményi Gyenes István: Ismerjük őket? Zsidó származású nevezetes magyarok arcképcsarnoka, Budapest, Ex Libris kiadó, 2000.,
*
Magyar életrajzi lexikon* TheatreD
page szinhaziadattar.hu
* Kemény Egon
External links
Hungarian Dubbing Database
Online poems
Author page on Moly.hu*
Wikiquotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romhanyi, Jozsef
1921 births
1983 deaths
Hungarian poets
Hungarian librettists
Hungarian television writers
Male television writers
Writers from Budapest
20th-century Hungarian translators
20th-century Hungarian screenwriters