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 Crescent Moon'' and '' Slave of the Huns''.

Life

Gárdonyi was born in Agárdpuszta,

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

, the son of a machinist on the estate of an aristocrat in Western Hungary. He graduated from at a college for teachers and worked for some years as a teacher and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

. He married Mária Molnár in 1885, but their marriage was unhappy, and they separated in 1892. Gárdonyi's career as a writer started off when he began writing for magazines and newspapers in the mid-1880s. His first successes were the satirical "Göre Gábor" letters on rural life, works which he later repudiated. Around the turn of the century, he started to tackle historical themes in writing, which resulted in a series of fine novels. He moved to Eger (today's northern Hungary) in 1897 with his mother and lived there until his death. He is also buried there, with his tomb bearing the inscription ''Csak a teste'' ("Only his body"). The house where he lived and did most of his writing is now preserved as a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

Best known work

''Eclipse of the Crescent Moon''

Gárdonyi's most famous novel ''Egri csillagok'' was published in 1899. The title translates literally as ''Stars of

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque bui ...

'', but it was published in English as ''Eclipse of the Crescent Moon''. It is set around a famous siege of the town of Eger in Hungary by the Ottomans in the year 1552. In 2005 this book was voted "the most popular novel of Hungary" by viewers of the television programme ''

Big Read The Big Read was a survey on books carried out by the BBC in the United Kingdom in 2003, where over three-quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's best-loved novel of all time. The year-long survey w ...

'' (''A Nagy Könyv'').

''Slave of the Huns''

In the opinion of some people, his best work was ''A láthatatlan ember'', published in 1901. The title translates literally as ''The Invisible Man'', but it was published in English as ''Slave of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

''. It is set around the time of Attila the Hun. Although these two novels are very well known in Hungary, translations into English and other European languages only became widely published in the late 20th century.

Works

*''Egri csillagok'' (Stars of Eger / Eclipse of the Crescent Moon) *''A láthatatlan ember'' (The Invisible Man / Slave of the Huns) *''Isten rabjai'' (Captives of God) *''A lámpás'' (The Lamp) *'' A bor'' (The Wine) *''Ida regénye'' (Ida's Novel) *''Hosszúhajú veszedelem'' (The Menace with Long Hair) *''Az én falum'' (My Village) *''Az égre néző lélek'' (Spirit, Looking at the Sky) *''Állatmesék'' (Animal Tales)

External links