Lőrinc Szabó de Gáborján ( ;

Miskolc Miskolc ( , ; ; Czech language, Czech and ; ; ; ) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 as of 1 January 2014, Miskolc is the List of cities and towns in Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, ...

, 31 March 1900 –

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 ...

, 3 October 1957) was a Hungarian poet and literary translator.

Biography

He was born in Miskolc as the son of an engine driver, Lőrinc Szabó sr., and Ilona Panyiczky. The family moved to Balassagyarmat when he was 3 years old. He attended school in Balassagyarmat and

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 ...

. He studied at the ELTE in

where he befriended

Mihály Babits Mihály Babits (; 26 November 1883 – 4 August 1941) was a Hungarian poet, writer, essayist, and translator. His poems are well known for their intense religious themes. His novels such as “The Children of Death” (1927) explore psychol ...

. He didn't finish his studies; instead he began to work for the literary periodical ''Az Est'' in 1921, shortly after he married Klára Mikes, the daughter of Lajos Mikes. He worked there until 1944. Between 1927 and 1928 he was a founder and editor of the periodical ''Pandora''. His first published poems appeared in the 1920s in the '' Nyugat'' ("The West"). His first book of poetry was published in 1922 under the title ''Föld, erdő, Isten'' ("Earth, Forest, God") and received considerable success. He got the Baumgarten Award in 1932, 1937 and 1943. As a translator, he translated several works of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

(''

Timon of Athens ''The Life of Tymon of Athens'', often shortened to ''Timon of Athens'', is a play written by William Shakespeare and likely also Thomas Middleton in about 1606. It was published in the ''First Folio'' in 1623. Timon of Athens (person), Timon ...

'' in 1935, ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

'' in 1938, ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' in 1939, ''

Troilus and Cressida ''The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida'', often shortened to ''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ), is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forc ...

'' in 1948); Coleridge's '' Ancient Mariner'' and ''

Kubla Khan "Kubla Khan: or A Vision in a Dream" () is a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, completed in 1797 and published in 1816. It is sometimes given the subtitles "A Vision in a Dream" and "A Fragment." According to Coleridge's preface to "Kub ...

'', Baudelaire's ''

Les Fleurs du mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; ) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First published in 1857, it was important in the ...

'' (together with Babits and Árpád Tóth);

François Villon François Villon (; Modern French: ; ; – after 1463) is the best known French poet of the Late Middle Ages. He was involved in criminal behavior and had multiple encounters with law enforcement authorities. Villon wrote about some of these e ...

's '' Grand Testament'',

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

's '' L'École des femmes'',

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

's ''

The Sorrows of Young Werther ''The Sorrows of Young Werther'' (; ), or simply ''Werther'', is a 1774 epistolary novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, which appeared as a revised edition in 1787. It was one of the main novels in the ''Sturm und Drang'' ...

'',

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

's ''

Tess of the d'Urbervilles ''Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman'' is the twelfth published novel by English author Thomas Hardy. It initially appeared in a Book censorship, censored and Serialized novel, serialised version, published by the British illustrated newsp ...

'', and works of Verlaine, Tyutchev, Pushkin, Krylov, Kleist, Mörike,

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest pro ...

, George, Rilke, Benn and Weinheber. He fought in

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 ...

, met Gyula Gömbös and at a literary congress at Lillafüred he emphasized the beauty of war poetry. In 1942 Lőrinc Szabó joined the "''Europäische Schriftstellervereinigung''" (i.e. ''European Writers' League'') which had been founded by

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

. Frank-Rutger Hausmann (2004) ''"Dichte, Dichter, tage nicht!" – Die Europäische Schriftsteller-Vereinigung in Weimar 1941–1948''. Today his correspondence with its head secretary Carl Rothe shows their close friendship. Szabó became the speaker of Hungarian section of the European Writers' League after József Nyírő and published articles in the organisation's magazine "''Europäische Literatur''" (i.e. ''European Literature''). This led to him being considered right-wing, and because of this, after the war he was left out of cultural life and could publish only translations, not his own works. His importance was recognised only shortly before his death, when he received the Kossuth Prize. He died of a heart attack.

Poetry

Several of his poems were written to his children ''Lóci'' and ''Klári'', while in other poems he remembers his own childhood. In 1950 his long-time paramour Erzsébet Korzáti died by suicide. His sonnet cycle ''The 26th Year'' was written in her memory. it was published in 1957.

Books of poetry

* Föld, erdő, Isten (''Earth, Forest, God'', 1922) * Kalibán (''Caliban'', 1923) * Fény, fény, fény (''Light, Light, Light'', 1926) * A Sátán műremekei (''Masterpieces of Satan'', 1926) * Te meg a világ (''You and the World'', 1932) * Különbéke (''Separate Peace'', 1936) * Harc az ünnepért (''Fight for the Holiday'', 1938) * Régen és most (''Then and Now'', 1943) * Tücsökzene (''Cricket Song'', 1947) * A huszonhatodik év (''The 26th Year'', 1957)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szabo, Lorinc 1900 births 1957 deaths People from Miskolc National Peasant Party (Hungary) politicians Hungarian male poets Translators to Hungarian 20th-century Hungarian translators 20th-century Hungarian poets 20th-century Hungarian male writers Baumgarten Prize winners Translators of William Shakespeare English–Hungarian translators Translators of Rainer Maria Rilke