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

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

and then studied German and Hungarian at the University of Budapest. In 1907, his poems began to appear in the papers A Hét and Vasárnapi Újság and after 1908 in 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), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

led him to rest at the Svedlér Sanitorium in the Tatra Mountains. During the period of the revolutionary government after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, 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 secondary school was named after him. In April 2011, the

Hungarian National Bank The Hungarian National Bank ( , MNB) is the central bank of Hungary and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It was established in 1924 as a successor entity of the Austro-Hungarian Bank, under the economic assistance ...

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 Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, Shelley, Keats,

Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics, an ...

, Flaubert, Gautier,

Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the Naturalism (literature), naturalist School of thought, sc ...

, and

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

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 Hungarian translators 20th-century Hungarian male writers Tuberculosis deaths in Hungary English–Hungarian translators French–Hungarian translators Russian–Hungarian translators