(; Archaic English name: Alexander Márai; 11 April 1900 – 21 February 1989) was a Hungarian writer, poet, and journalist.

Biography

Márai was born on 11 April 1900 in the city of Kassa,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

(now Košice,

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

). Through his father, he was a relative of the Hungarian noble Országh family. In 1919, he was an enthusiastic supporter of the

Hungarian Soviet Republic The Socialist Federative Republic of Councils in Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Szocialista Szövetséges Tanácsköztársaság) (due to an early mistranslation, it became widely known as the Hungarian Soviet Republic in English-language sources ( ...

and worked as a journalist. He joined the Communists, becoming the founder of the "Activist and Anti-National Group of Communist Writers". After the fall of the

, his family found it safer to leave the country, thus he continued his studies in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. Márai travelled to and lived in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

and briefly considered writing in German, but eventually chose his mother language, Hungarian, for his writings. In ''Egy polgár vallomásai'' (English: "Confessions of a citizen"), Márai identifies the

mother tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tong ...

language with the concept of nation itself. He settled in Krisztinaváros,

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, in 1928. In the 1930s, he gained prominence with a precise and clear realist style. He was the first person to write reviews of the work of

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ty ...

. He wrote very enthusiastically about the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

and

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all o ...

s, in which as the result of the German-Italian arbitration

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

had to give back part of the territories which Hungary lost in the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It formal ...

, including his native Kassa (Košice). Nevertheless, Márai was highly critical of the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

. Márai authored 46 books. His 1942 book ''

Embers ''Embers'' is a radio play by Samuel Beckett. It was written in English in 1957. First broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on 24 June 1959, the play won the RAI prize at the Prix Italia awards later that year. Donald McWhinnie directed Ja ...

'' (Hungarian title: ''A gyertyák csonkig égnek'', meaning "The Candles Burn Down to the Stump") expresses a nostalgia for the bygone multi-ethnic, multicultural society of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with t ...

, reminiscent of the works of

Joseph Roth Moses Joseph Roth (2 September 1894 – 27 May 1939) was an Austrian journalist and novelist, best known for his family saga ''Radetzky March'' (1932), about the decline and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his novel of Jewish life '' Job'' ...

. In 2006 an adaptation of this novel for the stage, written by

Christopher Hampton Sir Christopher James Hampton (Horta, Azores, 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the novel of the same name and the film ...

, was performed in London. He also disliked the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

regime that seized power after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and left – or was driven away – in 1948. After living for some time in Italy, Márai settled in the city of San Diego, in the United States. Márai joined with

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says th ...

between 1951 and 1968. Márai was extremely disappointed in the Western powers for not helping the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hung ...

. He continued to write in his native language, but was not published in English until the mid-1990s. Like other memoirs by Hungarian writers and statesmen, it was first published in the West, because it could not be published in the Hungary of the post-1956

Kádár Kádár (Hungarian, 'cooper', ) is a Hungarian surname which may refer to: * Ján Kadár, Slovak-Hungarian film director * János Kádár (1912–1989), Hungarian politician, top leader during the communist era * Flóra Kádár (1928–2002), Hung ...

era. The English version of the memoir was published posthumously in 1996. After his wife died in 1986, Márai retreated more and more into isolation. In 1987, he lived with advanced cancer and his depression worsened when he lost his adopted son, John. He ended his life with a gunshot to his head in San Diego in 1989. He left behind three granddaughters; Lisa, Sarah and Jennifer Márai. Largely forgotten outside of Hungary, his work (consisting of poems, novels, and

diaries Diaries may refer to: * the plural of diary A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritt ...

) has only been recently "rediscovered" and republished in French (starting in 1992), Polish,

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid ...

, Italian, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Czech, Slovak, Danish, Icelandic, Korean,

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

, Dutch,

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

and other languages too, and is now considered to be part of the 20th century European literary canon.

Evaluation

“Hungarian Sándor Márai was the insightful chronicler of a collapsing world." – Le Monde "It is perhaps one of the

orks that Ork or ORK may refer to: * Ork (folklore), a mountain demon of Tyrol folklore * ''Ork'' (video game), a 1991 game for the Amiga and Atari ST systems * Ork (''Warhammer 40,000''), a fictional species in the ''Warhammer 40,000'' universe * ''Ork!'' ...

thus impacted me a lot." - Dilma Rousseff on the book ''

''.

Bibliography

Translated into English

* ''The Rebels'' (1930, published in English in 2007, translation by George Szirtes), Hungarian title: '' A zendülők''. * ''Esther's Inheritance'' (1939, published in English in 2008), Hungarian title: ''Eszter hagyatéka''. * ''

Casanova in Bolzano ''Casanova in Bolzano'' is a 1940 novel by Sándor Márai. The book begins with Casanova's escape from Piombi, from which he heads into the Alps, to Bolzano. It is here that he re-encounters an enemy from the past, the Duke of Parma The Du ...

'' (1940, published in English in 2004), Hungarian title: ''Vendégjáték Bolzanóban'' * ''Portraits of a Marriage'' (1941 & 1980, published in English in 2011), Hungarian titles: ''Az igazi'' (1941) and ''Judit... és az utóhang'' (1980) * ''

'' (1942, published in English in 2001), Hungarian title: ''A gyertyák csonkig égnek''. * ''Memoir of Hungary'' (1971, published in English in 2001), Hungarian title: ''Föld, föld...!'' * ''The Withering World: Selected Poems by Sandor Marai'' (Translations by John M. Ridland and Peter V. Czipott of 163 poems, published in English in 2013)

Gallery

File:Márai-socha1.jpg, Statue of Márai
in Košice File:Márai-dom.jpg, Márai's place of residence (today's Mäsiarska Street in Košice) File:Marai-doska.jpg, Memorial plates of Márai installed on the front of his birthplace (in Hungarian and Slovak) File:Marai-socha3.jpg, Márai's signature
(detail of his statue in Košice) File:Marai-Img_portrait-0430.jpg, Statue of Márai
in

's Mikó utca, Krisztinaváros File:Marai-Img Miko-u-0431.jpg, Márai's memorial on his former home in Krisztinaváros

Notes

External links

Official Marai site at Knopf
which is releasing Marai's novels in English:
Sándor Márai Blog
– a fan blog with news, reviews, links
Márai at Hunlit

70 Years Later, A New Chance To Read 'Marriage'
NPR story about new translation of "Portraits of A Marriage" (with link to excerpt)
Sándor Márai and Naples
A documentary about Márai's Italian years {{DEFAULTSORT:Marai, Sandor Hungarian anti-communists Hungarian journalists Hungarian male poets Hungarian exiles Hungarian emigrants to the United States Writers from Košice Leipzig University alumni Suicides by firearm in California Hungarian-German people 1900 births 1989 suicides 20th-century Hungarian novelists 20th-century Hungarian poets 20th-century Hungarian male writers Hungarian male novelists 20th-century journalists 1989 deaths