Zsófia Józsefné Szalatnyay Dénes (14 January 1885 – 22 January 1987) was a Hungarian writer.

Biography

She was born 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 ...

. During the 1910s, Dénes was

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

correspondent for the Hungarian magazines ''

Pesti Napló ''Pesti Napló'' () was a Hungarian newspaper published from March 1850 to October 1939. The paper was based in Budapest, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, ...

'' and ''Világ''; she reported on the premieres of ballets composed by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

and performed by

Vaslav Nijinsky Vaslav or Vatslav Nijinsky (12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish ancestry. He is regarded as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. Nijinsky was celebrated for his virtuosity and f ...

. She moved to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1919 after the fall of the

Hungarian Soviet Republic The Hungarian Soviet Republic, also known as the Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of Hungary was a short-lived communist state that existed from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919 (133 days), succeeding the First Hungarian Republic. The Hungari ...

. Dénes worked for a Hungarian language newspaper there until 1925. She then returned to Budapest, where she worked as a journalist and also lobbied for women's rights and for

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...

. She was briefly engaged to the Hungarian poet

Endre Ady Endre Ady (Hungarian: ''diósadi Ady András Endre,'' archaic English: Andrew Ady; 22 November 1877 – 27 January 1919) was a turn-of-the-century Hungarian poet and journalist. Regarded by many as the greatest Hungarian poet of the 20th centur ...

and published a memoir on his life ''Élet helyett órák'' (Hours instead of life) in 1935. In 1957, she published ''Akkor a hársak épp szerettek'' (At that time the linden trees were loving) which also dealt with their relationship. In 1976, she established the Ady Prize in his honour. Dénes wrote the first Hungarian biography of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

. She knew prominent figures of her time such as

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

and poet

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...

. In 1985, she published ''Ami a százból kimaradt'' (What has been left out from a hundred). At the time, she was considered the oldest author in Hungary. She died in Budapest at the age of 102.

Selected works

* '' Zrínyi Ilona'', historical novel (1959) * ''Gyalog a baloldalon'' (Pedestrian on the left bank) (1965) * ''Párizsi körhinta'' (Paris merry-go-round), memoirs (1966) * ''Szivárvány'' (Rainbow), memoirs (1970)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denes, Zsofia 1885 births 1987 deaths Hungarian women's rights activists Hungarian women journalists Hungarian pacifists Writers from Budapest 20th-century Hungarian women writers 20th-century Hungarian journalists