András Fáy (; 30 May 178626 July 1864) was a Hungarian author, lawyer, politician and businessman.

Life

He was born at Kohány (today Kochanovce, suburb of

Sečovce Sečovce (; ; ) is a town in the Trebišov District in the Košice Region of south-eastern Slovakia. History The town was first mentioned in year 1255 on the list of king Béla IV of Hungary, Béla IV of Hungary. In 1494, a Roman Catholic churc ...

) in the county of Zemplén, and was educated for the law at the Protestant college of

Sárospatak Sárospatak (; ; Serbian language, Serbian: Муд Стреам; Slovak language, Slovakian: ''Šarišský Potok, Blatný Potok)'' History The area has been inhabited since ancient times. Sárospatak was granted town status in 1201 by Emeric ...

. His volume of poems ''New Garland'' (1818) established his fame as a poet. However he won a much larger fame with his ''Mesék'' (Fables), the first edition of which appeared at

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 1820. This book exhibited his powers of satire and invention. These fables, which, on account of their originality and simplicity, caused Fay to be regarded as the Hungarian

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

, were translated into German by

Petz ''Petz'' is a series of single-player video games dating back to 1995, in which the player can adopt, raise, care for and breed their own virtual pets. Developed by PF.Magic, original ''Petz'' ( ''Dogz'' and ''Catz'') has sold over 1.5 million ...

(Raab, 1825), and partly into English by E. D. Butler, ''Hungarian Poems and Fables'' (London, 1877). Fay wrote numerous poems, the chief of which are to be found in the collections ''Bokréta'' (“Nosegay,” Pest, 1807), and ''Friss Bokréta'' (“Fresh Nosegay,” Pest, 1818). He also composed plays, romances and tales. Among his dramatic works are the tragedy, ''The Two Báthorys'' (1827); and several comedies, the most notable being ''The Old Coins; or the Transylvanians in Hungary'' (1824), and ''The Hunt in the Matra'' (1860). He wrote a

social novel Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

, ''The House of the Béltekys'' (1832); a humorous novel, ''Jávor orvos és szolgája, Bakator Ambrus'' (“Jávor the Doctor and his servant Ambrose Bakator,” Pest, 1855, 2 vols.); and a number of short stories. His earlier works were collected at Pest (1843–1844, 8 vols.). In 1835 Fáy was elected to the

Hungarian diet The Diet of Hungary or originally: Parlamentum Publicum / Parlamentum Generale () was the most important political assembly in Hungary since the 12th century, which emerged to the position of the supreme legislative institution in the Kingdom ...

, and until the arrival of

Lajos Kossuth Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (; ; ; ; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman and governor-president of the Kingdom of Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, r ...

in 1840 was the leader of the opposition party. After 1840, he took little part in politics. It is to him that the First Hungarian Savings Bank of Pest owes its origin, and he was one of the chief founders of the Hungarian National Theatre. He died in 1864.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fay, Andras 1786 births 1864 deaths People from Sečovce Hungarian politicians Hungarian writers Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Writers from the Austrian Empire