Ágnes Gergely (born 5 October 1933) is a Hungarian poet, 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, 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 was not par ...

. She took her pen name "Gergely" from the novel Eclipse of the Crescent Moon 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 Cres ...

because Agnes Gergely wished to be courageous like the hero from the story, Gergely Bornemissza. Her father György Guttmann was murdered in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

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

University of Budapest A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. 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, United States. Since 2014, the program offers online courses to many writers and poets around the world. Since its inception in 1967, the I ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or 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 organized int ...

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

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') 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 ...

. 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 in 1977 and 1987 and the

Kossuth Prize The Kossuth Prize (, ) is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1936, by the Hungarian National Assembly, to acknowledge outstanding personal and grou ...

in 2000.

References

1933 births Living people Hungarian Jews 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 Hungarian translators 21st-century translators International Writing Program alumni Attila József Prize recipients 21st-century Hungarian poets English–Hungarian translators Translators to Hungarian Translators of James Joyce {{Hungary-writer-stub