Ferenc Kölcsey (archaically English: Francis Kolcsey, 8 August 1790 in Sződemeter – 24 August 1838) was a Hungarian poet, literary critic, orator, and politician, noted for his support of the liberal current in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

regarding the politics involving the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. He wrote ''

Himnusz The "" () is the national anthem of Hungary. The lyrics were written by Ferenc Kölcsey, a nationally renowned poet, in 1823, and its currently official musical setting was composed by the romantic composer Ferenc Erkel in 1844, although other ...

'', the national anthem of Hungary in 1823.

Biography

Kölcsey was born in Sződemeter,

(now Săuca,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

). He was orphaned at an early age and handicapped by the loss of an eye to

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

. At age fifteen, he made the acquaintance of Ferenc Kazinczy and adopted his linguistic reforms. In 1809, Kölcsey went to Pest and became a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

to the

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board. He was disenchanted with the office, and, while in Szatmárcseke, he devoted his time to aesthetical study,

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

, criticism, and the defense of Kazinczy's theories. Kölcsey's early metrical pieces contributed to the ''Transylvanian Museum'' did not attract much attention, while his severe criticisms of Mihály Csokonai Vitéz, János Kis, and especially Dániel Berzsenyi, published in 1817, rendered him very unpopular. From 1821 to 1826, he published many separate poems of great beauty in the ''Aurora, Hebe, Aspasia'', and other magazines of polite

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. He joined Pál Szemere in a new periodical, styled ''Élet és Literatúra'' (''Life and Literature''), which appeared from 1826 to 1829, in 4 volumes, and gained for Kölcsey the highest reputation as a critical writer. From 1832 to 1835, he sat in the Hungarian Diet, where his extreme liberal views and his eloquence soon rendered him famous as a

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

ary leader. Elected on 17 November 1830 as a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, he took part in its first grand meeting. In 1832, he delivered his famous oration on Kazinczy, and then, in 1836, on his former opponent Dániel Berzsenyi. In 1838, when the opposition leader Miklós Wesselényi was thrown into prison upon a disputed charge of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

, Kölcsey conducted his defense with noted eloquence, but without success. He died about a week afterwards at Szatmárcseke, from internal inflammation. Kölcsey's strong moral sense and deep devotion to his country are reflected in his poems, his often severe but masterly literary criticism, and his funeral orations and parliamentary speeches. His collected works, in 6 volumes, were published at Pest, 1840–1848, and his journal of the Diet of 1832–1836 appeared in 1848. The first collected edition of all his works appeared in 1886–87. A

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

erected to the memory of Kölcsey was unveiled at Szatmárnémeti on 25 September 1864. His poem ''

'' (1823), evoking the glory of Hungary's past, became the national anthem of Hungary.

Personal life

Kölcsey never married and had no documented relationships; based on some of the intimate letters Kölcsey wrote to his male contemporaries, literary historian Krisztián Nyáry theorized that Kölcsey may have been homosexual. Literary historian István Margócsy in Magyar Narancs and Writer Nóra Szendi in Hvg.hu, disagreed with these claims. Margócsy wrote, "I have a problem with this, Krisztián, that you present assumptions as true stories. Love is the most mysterious phenomenon in the world, and telling rounded stories about the complicated emotional and sexual relationships of people who lived long ago is extremely risky" while Szendi wrote, "Krisztián Nyáry treats it as a fact that the author of the Anthem felt a burning love for a man, even though this cannot be proven at all based on the customs and language of the time, claims our literary researcher. The kiss between men appears several times in various correspondences from the Reformation period, which does not mean, however, that the characters were gay."

Selected works

* ''Vanitatum Vanitas'' 1823. * ''Himnusz'' 1823. The national anthem of Hungary * ''Huszt'' 1831. Epigram

Honors

* Ferenc Kölcsey stamp were issued by Hungary on 5 May 1937. * On 3 August 1990 another postage stamp was issued.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koelcsey, Ferenc Scholars from the Austrian Empire Poets from the Austrian Empire Hungarian essayists Literary critics Hungarian politicians National anthem writers People from Satu Mare County Hungarian Calvinist and Reformed Christians 1790 births 1838 deaths Hungarian male poets 19th-century Hungarian poets 19th-century Hungarian male writers