Sándor Barta (born Sándor Blau; 7 October 1897 – 3 June 1938) was a Hungarian poet active in various

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

movements. After emigrating to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, he remained active amongst

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-speaking cultural groups. He was an active agent in carrying out the

Stalinist purges The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the assassination of Sergei Kirov by Leonid Nikolae ...

amongst the literary intelligentsia, but was himself arrested by the Soviet authorities and shot in 1938.

Early life

His schooling stopped at secondary school and he went to work in his father's workshop. However he suffered from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

as a teenager. Then he got a job as a bookshop assistant and became involved with the

Galileo Circle The Galileo Circle (''Galilei Kör'') was an atheist-materialist student organization that functioned in Budapest between 1908 and 1919. Their center was located at the Anker Palace#Anker Köz, Anker Köz in Terézváros, Budapest. The circle had ...

. He started writing poetry, and his first poem was published in '' MA''. He married the poet

Erzsi Újvári Erzsi Újvári (born Erzsébet Kassák) (14 July 1899, Érsekújvár-11 August 1940, Moscow) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian poet. Her parents were Istvan Kassák and Erzsébet Istenes, and Lajos Kassák was her brother. In 1912 she moved to Bud ...

the sister of

Lajos Kassák Lajos Kassák (March 21, 1887 – July 22, 1967) was a Hungarian poet, novelist, painter, essayist, editor, theoretician of the avant-garde, and translator. Self-taught, he became a writer within the socialist movement and published journa ...

who edited ''MA''.

In Vienna

MA period

Barta wrote the manifesto "A zöldfejü ember" (The Green Headed Man) appeared in the January 1921 issue of ''MA'' in January. This indicates an interest in

Dadaism Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

, but Lassák was to later distance himself from Dadaism and Barta claiming that it was only published to appease Barta. "A zöldfejü ember" part 1.pdf, "A zöldfejü ember" "A zöldfejü ember" part 2.pdf, "A zöldfejü ember"

''Akasztott Ember''

Barta launched the journal '' Akasztott Ember'' ("Hanged Man") in November 1922. In 1923 it was renamed ''Ék'' ("Wedge"). He explained the title thus: "As people, we now feel ourselves to be hanged. And if someone doesn't feel hanged, he belongs among those who hang and kick us".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barta, Sandor 1897 births 1938 deaths 20th-century Hungarian poets Dada Great Purge victims from Hungary Hungarian exiles Hungarian emigrants to the Soviet Union