Gergely Csiky (also Gregor Csiky; 8 December 1842 – 19 November 1891) was a Hungarian

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

of Armenian ancestry (his mother's family is of the Verzár family that was initially called as Stefanian).Gudenus János József: Örmény eredetű magyar nemesi családok genealógiája Erdélyi Örmény Gyökerek, Budapest, 2000 Csiky was born in Pankota, in the county of Arad. He studied Roman Catholic theology at Pest and

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. ...

, and was professor in the Priests College at

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

from 1870 to 1878. In the latter year, however, he joined the Evangelical Church, and took up literature. Beginning with novels and works on ecclesiastical history, which met with some recognition, he ultimately devoted himself to writing for the stage. Here his success was immediate. In his ''Az ellenállhatatlan (Irresistible)'', which obtained a prize from the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...

, he showed the distinctive features of his talent: directness, freshness, realistic vigor, and a highly individualistic style. In rapid succession he enriched Magyar literature with realistic genre pictures, such as ''A Proletárok (Proletariat)'', ''Buborékok (Bubbles)'', ''Két szerelem (Two Loves)'', ''A szégyenlős (The Bashful)'', ''Athalia'', etc., in all of which he seized on one or another feature or type of modern life, dramatizing it with intensity, qualified by chaste and well-balanced diction. Of the latter, his classical studies may be taken as the inspiration, and his translation of

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

and

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...

were the most successful of Magyar translations of the ancient classics. Among his novels are ''Arnold'', ''Az Atlasz család (The Atlas Family''). He died 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 ...

. The Csiky Gergely Theatre of

Kaposvár Kaposvár (; also known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in southwestern Hungary, south of Lake Balaton. It is one of the leading cities of Transdanubia, the capital of Somogy County, and the seat of the Kaposvár District and th ...

and the Hungarian Theatre of

bear his name.

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* * 1842 births 1891 deaths 19th-century Hungarian male writers Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences 19th-century Hungarian dramatists and playwrights Hungarian male dramatists and playwrights {{hungary-writer-stub