Gergely Csiky (also Gregor Csiky; 8 December 1842 – 19 November 1891) was a
Hungarian dramatist of Armenian ancestry (his mother's family is of the Verzár family that was initially called as Stefanian).
[Gudenus János József: Örmény eredetű magyar nemesi családok genealógiája
Erdélyi Örmény Gyökerek, Budapest, 2000]
Csiky was born in
Pankota, in the county of
Arad. He studied Roman Catholic theology at
Pest
Pest or The Pest may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns
** Weed, a plant considered undesirable
* Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection
** ...
and
Vienna, and was professor in the Priests College at
Timișoara from 1870 to 1878. In the latter year, however, he joined the Evangelical Church, and took up literature. Beginning with novels and works on ecclesiastical history, which met with some recognition, he ultimately devoted himself to writing for the stage.
Here his success was immediate. In his ''Az ellenállhatatlan (Irresistible)'', which obtained a prize from the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( hu, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, MTA) is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. Its ma ...
, he showed the distinctive features of his talent: directness, freshness, realistic vigor, and highly individual style. In rapid succession he enriched Magyar literature with realistic genre pictures, such as ''A Proletárok (Proletariat)'', ''Buborékok (Bubbles)'', ''Két szerelem (Two Loves)'', ''A szégyenlős (The Bashful)'', ''Athalia'', etc., in all of which he seized on one or another feature or type of modern life, dramatizing it with intensity, qualified by chaste and well-balanced diction. Of the latter, his classical studies may be taken as the inspiration, and his translation of
Sophocles and
Plautus were the most successful of Magyar translations of the ancient classics. Among his novels are ''Arnold'', ''Az Atlasz család (The Atlas Family''). He died in
Budapest.
The
Csiky Gergely Theatre
The Gergely Csiky Theatre is a theatre in Kaposvár, Hungary. Opening in 1911, the theatre became a major cultural center in Somogy County, with its company achieving their greatest successes between 1970–1985.
The building
Designed by the w ...
of
Kaposvár and the Hungarian Theatre of
Timișoara bear his name.
References
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External links
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1842 births
1891 deaths
19th-century Hungarian male writers
Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
19th-century Hungarian dramatists and playwrights
Hungarian male dramatists and playwrights
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