József Katona (11 November 1791,

Kecskemét Kecskemét ( ) is a city with county rights in central Hungary. It is the List of cities and towns of Hungary, eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun County, Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the ca ...

– 16 April 1830, Kecskemét) was a Hungarian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, creator of the Hungarian historical tragedy '' Bánk bán''.

Biography

József Katona was born and died in

. He studied at the

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

of Pest as a lawyer, and at the same time, he took part in theatrical life of the capital: he was an

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, he wrote several plays, and he also translated and adapted

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

tic works for the Hungarian stage. He hopelessly loved the leading Hungarian actress, Mme Déry, but she never recognized this love. József Katona wrote ''Bánk bán'', his most important drama for a literary competition organized by a Kolozsvár periodical in 1815. The competition required a historical drama with a Hungarian background. The result of the competition was disappointment for Katona: his ''Bánk Bán'' was not mentioned at all. He rewrote the play and published it privately in 1820, but it remained unnoticed until the mid-1830s. He returned to his native town Kecskemet. In the last ten years of his life, he wrote no more for the stage. Katona died on April 16, 1830, of a heart attack in front of his office.

Works

* ''Aubigny Clementina'', 1813 * ''Ziska'', 1813 * ''Jeruzsálem pusztulása'', 1814 * ''A rózsa, vagy a tapasztalatlan légy a pókok között'', 1814
Bánk bán
(Hungarian text), 1815; final version, 1819

Bánk bán

The story was about Bánk, the viceroy appointed by King Andrew II (1205–35), while the King was away on his foreign campaigns. Bánk became involved in a conspiracy against the German-born wife of the king; he tries to prevent the rebellion, but finally he is the man who kills the queen. His reason for the murder was political and personal at the same time: Queen Gertrude had taken part in a plot to seduce Bánk’s wife. Bánk's complex character and the deep conflict between duty and personal grief make Bánk Bán one of the best Hungarian dramas. It was written at the time when the intellectuals of the country opposed

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

absolutism, and the drama is about mediaeval times when Hungary’s nobility fought against foreign usurpers as well, so the drama had been blacklisted by the government. In 1848, in the evening of March 15, the

Hungarian National Theater The National Theatre, located in Budapest originally opened in 1837. Since then, it has occupied several locations, including the original building at Kerepesi Street, the ''People's Theatre'' at Blaha Lujza Square, as well as Hevesi Sándor Sq ...

scheduled a performance of Bánk Bán. It was a symbolic event, part of the Hungarian revolution.

Bibliography

* József Katona: Bánk bán (The viceroy), translated by Bernard Adams and Kálmán Ruttkay; foreword written by László Orosz – Budapest : Akad. K., cop. 2003.

External links

Magyar Színházművészeti Lexikon

Katona József Emlékház Kecskemét
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katona, Jozsef 1791 births 1830 deaths People from Kecskemét Hungarian male poets 19th-century Hungarian male writers Hungarian male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Hungarian poets 19th-century Hungarian dramatists and playwrights Dramatists and playwrights from the Austrian Empire Poets from the Austrian Empire

Biography

Works

Bánk bán

Bibliography

See also

External links