Árpád Tóth (14 April 1886 – 7 November 1928) was a Hungarian poet and translator. Tóth went to Gymnasium (high school) in

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 ...

and then studied German and Hungarian at 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, th ...

. In 1907, his poems began to appear in the papers A Hét and Vasárnapi Újság and after 1908 in

Nyugat ''Nyugat'' ( Hungarian for ''West''; pronounced similar to ''New-Got''), was an important Hungarian literary journal in the first half of the 20th century. Writers and poets from that era are referred to as "1st/2nd/3rd generation of the NYUGAT" ...

. In 1911, he became a theater critic for the paper Debreceni Nagy Újság. In 1913, he became a tutor to a wealthy family and received a little income from writing but still lived in poverty.

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

led him to rest at the Svedlér Sanitorium in the

Tatra Mountains The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak () or in Polish () - '' plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the hi ...

. During the period of the revolutionary government after

World War I 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 ...

, he became secretary of the Vörösmarty Academy, but lost the position and couldn't find new work after the government's fall. He remained poor and sick with tuberculosis for the rest of his life, succumbing to the disease in Budapest in 1928. His prolonged suffering led him to consider suicide at one point – although he did join the staff of Az Est in 1921. In

, a gymnasium was named after him. In April 2011, the

Hungarian National Bank The Hungarian National Bank ( hu, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB)) is the central bank of Hungary and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). The Hungarian National Bank was established in 1924 and succeeded the Royal Hungarian St ...

issued a commemorative silver coin celebrating the 125th anniversary of the poet's birth.

Works

He was a major lyric poet and contributed to the Nyugat School. His core themes focused on fleeting happiness and resignation. He translated Milton, Oscar Wilde, Shelley,

Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculos ...

, Baudelaire,

Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

, Gautier,

Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

, and

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toth, Arpad 1886 births 1928 deaths People from Arad, Romania Hungarian male poets Translators to Hungarian 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis 20th-century Hungarian poets 20th-century translators 20th-century Hungarian male writers Tuberculosis deaths in Hungary