Ágnes Gergely (born 1933) is a Hungarian writer, educator, journalist and translator.

Biography

She was born Ágnes Guttmann in family of Fenákel Rózsika and György Guttmann in Endrőd, a village on the

Great Hungarian Plain The Great Hungarian Plain (also known as Alföld or Great Alföld, hu, Alföld or ) is a plain occupying the majority of the modern territory of Hungary. It is the largest part of the wider Pannonian Plain. (However, the Great Hungarian plain ...

. She took her pen name "Gergely" from the novel

Eclipse of the Crescent Moon ''Eclipse of the Crescent Moon'' ( hu, Egri csillagok lit. ''"Stars of Eger"'') is a historical novel by the Hungary, Hungarian writer Géza Gárdonyi. It was first published in 1899 and is one of the most popular and widely recognized novels in ...

by the Hungarian writer

Géza Gárdonyi Géza Gárdonyi, born Géza Ziegler (3 August 1863 – 30 October 1922) was a Hungarian writer and journalist. Although he wrote a range of works, he had his greatest success as a historical novelist, particularly with '' Eclipse of the Cre ...

because Agnes Gergely wished to be courageous like the hero from the story,

Gergely Bornemissza Gergely Bornemissza (1526, Pécs – 1555, Constantinople) was a Hungarian soldier and national hero. Not much is known of his early life, although he is known to have been married twice. He is believed to have been an educated man, and a Lu ...

. Her father György Guttmann was murdered in

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 ...

. She began work in a factory in 1950 but later went on to study Hungarian and English literature at the

Faculty of Humanities A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

of the

University of Budapest A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. She taught secondary school, was a radio producer and was feature editor for the weekly literary magazine ''Nagyvilág''. From 1973 to 1974, Gergely took part in the

International Writing Program The International Writing Program (IWP) is a writing residency for international artists in Iowa City, Iowa. Since 2014, the program offers online courses to many writers and poets around the world. Since its inception in 1967, the IWP has hosted o ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. She also has translated English and American works into Hungarian and has lectured on English literature at

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University ( hu, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, ELTE) is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in Hung ...

. In 1963, she published her first poetry collection ''Ajtófélfámon jel vagy'' (Sign on my door jamb). Ágnes Gergely published her first novel ''A tolmács'' (The interpreter) in 1973, a story about tragedy of Jewish community during Nazist regime. Gergely was awarded 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. ...

in 1977 and 1987 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 ...

in 2000.

References

1933 births Living people Hungarian Jews Hungarian translators Eötvös Loránd University alumni Hungarian women novelists Hungarian women poets 20th-century Hungarian women writers 20th-century Hungarian poets 20th-century Hungarian novelists 21st-century Hungarian novelists 21st-century Hungarian women writers Academic staff of Eötvös Loránd University 20th-century translators 21st-century translators International Writing Program alumni Attila József Prize recipients 21st-century Hungarian poets {{Hungary-writer-stub