Jolán Földes (Yolanda Foldes or Yolanda Clarent) (20 December 1902,

Kenderes Kenderes () is a small town in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, Hungary. It is notable as the birthplace of Miklós Horthy, Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1920 to 1944, and for the many memorials dedicated to him around the town. A major t ...

– October 1963, London) was a Hungarian author. Her most famous novel is the ''Street of the Fishing Cat''.

Biography

Jolán Földes graduated in Budapest (1921) and went to Paris, where she worked as a workerwoman and clerk. Her first novel, ''Mária jól érett'' (1932), was a literary success in Hungary and awarded with Mikszáth Prize. Her comedy ''Majd a Vica'' (1935), written together with

Pál Vajda Pál is a Hungarian masculine given name, the Hungarian version of Paul. It may refer to: * Pál Almásy (1818–1882), Hungarian lawyer and politician * Pál Bedák (born 1985), Hungarian boxer * Pál Benkő (1928–2019), Hungarian-American che ...

, was presented by the prestigious New Theater. Her novel ''A halászó macska utcája'' tells the difficult life of a family of working class Hungarian emigrants in Paris after

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. It won the 1936 All-nations Prize Novel Competition of the Pinter Publishing Ltd (London). The title refers to the name of the narrowest street in Paris,

Rue du Chat-qui-Pêche The Rue du Chat-qui-Pêche (, ) is considered the narrowest street in Paris. It is only wide for the whole of its length. It is in the 5th arrondissement, on the Rive Gauche of the Seine, and runs from the Quai Saint-Michel to the Rue de la ...

(Street of the Fishing Cat). The novel was translated to 12 European languages. Among her books are ''Prelude to Love'', ''Shadows on the Mirror'' and ''Férjhez megyek'' (''I'm Getting Married'', 1935), ''Ági nem emlékszik semmire'' (1933), ''Péter nem veszti el a fejét'' (1937), ''Fej vagy írás'' (1937), ''Más világrész'' (1937). In 1941, Földes emigrated to London and her later works were written in English. ''Interlude'', first published in England under the title ''Heads or Tails'' (originally ''Fej vagy írás''), is set in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

at the time of the Spanish Revolution. ''Golden Earrings'' was made into a film of the same name in 1947,"Golden Earrings (1947)"
IMDb. starring

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

and

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. He is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's ''The Lost Weekend'' (1945), which wo ...

. The novel, originally written in English, was translated to Hungarian in 1946 under the title ''Aranyfülbevaló''. Földes was a popular author of the interwar era. Her novels are entertaining but she is considered a light-weight author by literary critics. Only the ''Street of the Fishing Cat'' is appreciated as an important literary achievement. The novel was republished in Hungary in 1989.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foldes, Jolan 1902 births 1963 deaths People from Kenderes 20th-century Hungarian writers 20th-century Hungarian women writers Hungarian women novelists