Gyula "Julius" Háy (5 May 1900 – 7 May 1975) was a Hungarian communist intellectual and playwright. He wrote under the pen name Stefan Faber.

Biography

Háy was born in 1900 in

Abony Abony () is a town in Pest County, Hungary. Geography Abony is a town in the south-east of , between the Danube and Tisza rivers. It is from Cegléd and from Budapest, at an elevation of . The area is on the River Tisza's wide floodplain which ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

to a Jewish family. He was involved in the German communist movement in the 1920s, particularly in

agitprop Agitprop (; from , portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in the Soviet Union where it referred to popular media, such as literatu ...

plays. During

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 ...

, he lived for a time in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Hotel Lux The former Hotel Lux in Moscow Hotel Lux (Люксъ) was a hotel in Moscow during the Soviet Union, housing many leading exiled and visiting Communists. During the Nazi era, exiles from all over Europe went there, particularly from Germany. A ...

, along with scores of other Communist exiles.Peter Dittmar
"Der steinerne Zeuge des stalinistischen Terrors"
''Die Welt'' (30 October 2007); retrieved 11 November 2011. In the 1950s he was a dissident in the

Hungarian Writers' Union The Hungarian Writers Union (also known as The Free Union of Hungarian Writers) was founded in 1945 at the end of World War II. Initially the union was intended to be an organizational body through which the interests of writers in Hungary could be ...

, and advocated for

workers' councils A workers' council, also called labour council, is a type of council in a workplace or a locality made up of workers or of temporary and instantly revocable delegates elected by the workers in a locality's workplaces. In such a system of poli ...

in the months leading up to the

Hungarian revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

. During the revolution, he played a significant role in the

, as a revolutionary body. He was involved in the workers council movement, and wrote the radio appeal to the intellectuals of the world which was broadcast as the Parliament building fell to Soviet troops. Háy was arrested and sentenced to 6 years in prison in November 1957. After three and a half years in prison, he was released and a few years later in 1965, left Hungary for Switzerland with his wife Éva where he continued to write plays in the west as an emigré. He died 1975 in

Ascona 300px, Ascona Ascona ( ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The town is a popular tourist destination and holds the yearly Ascona Jazz Festival. ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, two days after his 75th birthday. His son,

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, is a retired

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

author, publisher and bookseller.

Selected works

* ''Tiszazug'' (1945) * ''Isten, császár, paraszt'' (1946) * ''Romok'' (1947) * ''Ítélet éjszakája'' (1948) * ''Az élet hídja'' (1951–52) * ''Erő'' (1952) * ''Gyilkosok tanyáján'' (1953) * ''Öt színdarab'' (1954) * ''Sorsok és harcok'' (1955) * ''Szabadság, szerelem'' (1955) * ''A pulykapásztor'' (1956) * ''Királydrámák'' (1964)

Sources

*Reményi Gyenes István: Ismerjük őket? Zsidó származású nevezetes magyarok (Ex Libris Kiadó, Budapest, 2000); * Háy Gyula: Született 1900-ban; Interart, Budapest, 1990; * Háy Éva (Háy Gyuláné, Majoros Éva): A barikád mindkét oldalán (Budapest, Osiris, 2000) * Ki kicsoda a magyar irodalomban? Könyvkuckó Kiadó, Budapest, 1999;

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Gyula 1900 births 1975 deaths People from Abony Hungarian Jews Hungarian communists Hungarian male dramatists and playwrights Hungarian expatriates in Switzerland Hungarian revolutionaries 20th-century Hungarian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Hungarian male writers