Géza Ottlik (9 May 1912 – 9 October 1990) was a Hungarian writer, translator, mathematician, and

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

theorist. According to an American obituary bridge column, he was known in Hungary as "the ultimate authority on Hungarian prose".

Biography

Ottlik was born and died in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. He attended the military school at

Kőszeg Kőszeg (; ; ; ; ) is a town in Vas County, Hungary. The town is known for its historical character. History Medieval Period The origins of the only free royal town in the historical garrison county of Vas (Eisenburg) go back to the third quart ...

and

, and studied mathematics and physics at

Budapest University Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

1931–1935. After a brief career on Hungarian radio, he was a secretary of

Hungarian PEN Club Hungarian PEN Club is an affiliate of International PEN. The Hungarian Club was established in 1926 by Antal Radó. Early writers associated with the club included Albert Berzeviczy and Jenő Rákosi. Prominent members include Zsolt Harsányi, Mikl ...

from 1945 to 1957. As he was unable to publish his works for political reasons, he earned his living translating. He translated mainly from English (

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, and entrepreneur, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-war theatre. Born in London, he briefly worked as a jo ...

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

); and German (

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

, G. Keller,

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig ( ; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian writer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular writers in the world. Zweig was raised in V ...

). He was a passionate bridge player and advanced theoretician. In a bridge column three months after Ottlik's death,

Alan Truscott Alan Fraser Truscott (16 April 1925 – 4 September 2005) was a British-American bridge player, writer, and editor. He wrote the daily bridge column for ''The New York Times'' for 41 years, from 1964 to 2005, and served as Executive Editor for th ...

placed him "among the strongest candidates" for "the bridge writer with the greatest creativity in terms of card-play theory". His 1979 book ''Adventures in Card Play'', written with

Hugh Kelsey Hugh Walter Kelsey (1926 – 18 March 1995) was a British bridge player and writer, best known for advanced books on the play of the cards. Life Kelsey was born and died in Edinburgh. He was a combatant in World War II, and subsequently lived ...

, introduced and developed many new concepts (such as

Backwash squeeze Backwash squeeze is a rare squeeze which involves squeezing an opponent which lies behind declarer's menace. A variation of this, known as the "Sydney Squeeze" or "Seres Squeeze", was discovered in play at a rubber bridge game in Sydney, Australia ...

and

Entry-shifting squeeze In the card game contract bridge, an entry-shifting squeeze is a mixture between a material squeeze and an immaterial squeeze. The material part is the same as in a trump squeeze or a squeeze without the count. The immaterial part is that dependi ...

). According to Truscott it "opened new frontiers" in defence as well as declarer play. In his 1995 obituary of Kelsey, Truscott wrote that it "broke new ground in many technical areas and is still considered the most advanced book on the play of the cards." An American survey of bridge experts in 2007 ranked it third on a list of their all-time favourites, nearly thirty years after its first publication. From October 1944 to February 1945, Ottlik and his wife Gyöngyi Debreczeni hid the writer , a Jew, in their apartment and shared their food rations with him. Géza personally intervened to obtain the release of Vas' mother from arrest; if he had not done so, she would have been sent on a

death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war, other captives, or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinct from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convention requires tha ...

towards Germany. Gyöngyi faced down a group of

Arrow Cross Party The Arrow Cross Party (, , abbreviated NYKP) was a far-right Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which formed a government in Hungary they named the Government of National Unity. They were in power from 15 October 1944 to ...

members who had broken into the apartment to search for the Jew allegedly hiding there; they left without discovering Vas, who survived

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. For this, the couple were honoured on 4 June 1998 by

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

as people

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

Awards

* Ottlik received a grant from the British Government for his translations, 1960 *

József Attila József () is a Hungarian masculine given name. It is the Hungarian name equivalent to Joseph. Notable people bearing this name include: * József Bihari (1901–1981), Hungarian actor * József Bihari (1908–1997), Hungarian linguist * Jó ...

Prize (1981) *

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 ...

for Literature (1985) * Righteous Among the Nations (1998)

Publications

* ''Hamisjátékosok'' (Swindlers; stories) (1941) * ''Hajnali háztetők'' (Rooftops at Dawn; novella) (1957) * ''Iskola a határon'' (School at the Frontier; novel) (1959) * ''Minden megvan'' (Nothing's Lost; short stories) (1969, revised and enlarged 1991) * ''Adventures in Card Play'', Ottlik and

(

Victor Gollancz Ltd Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, an ...

, 1979), 285 pp., – on play and defence in

* ''Próza'' (Prose; essays, interviews) (1980) * ''A Valencia-rejtély'' (The Valencia Enigma; novel) (1989) * ''Hajónapló'' (Logbook; novel) (1989) * ''Buda'' (novel) (1993)

References

External links

Hungarian Literature database

at Frankfurt '99 with linked "Publications"
Géza Ottlik on Hunlit.hu
* * (chiefly linked as 'Ottlik, Géza, 1912–': select "LC Online Catalog", then "Previous") {{DEFAULTSORT:Ottlik, Geza Hungarian contract bridge players Contract bridge writers Writers from Budapest Hungarian noble families 1912 births 1990 deaths Burials at Farkasréti Cemetery 20th-century Hungarian mathematicians Hungarian Righteous Among the Nations Mathematicians from Austria-Hungary