Born 112 years ago, on April 5, 1912, István Örkény is a Kossuth Prize-winning writer, dramatist, creator of Tóték and Macskajáték, creator of the genre of one-minute short stories.
He was born into a Budapest Jewish aristocratic family. After graduating from Piarista High School, he first studied chemical engineering at the University, and from 1932, pharmacy at Pázmány Péter University.
"When I was born, I was so strikingly beautiful that the chief doctor took me in his arms and showed me from room to room in the clinic. They say I even smiled, which made the other moms sigh with envy. This happened shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, in 1912, and I think it was my only full-fledged success," wrote the writer, who was born on April 5, 1912 in Budapest, in his autobiography Egyperces.
His first short story was published in Szép Szó in 1937.
He got married this year, he married Flóra Gönczi. In the meantime, he toured Europe. He returned home to Budapest in 1940 and completed his chemical engineering studies in 1941. In the same year, he published his first volume of short stories, Tengertánc, privately. He also divorced his wife in 1941.
During World War II, he was called up for labor service and taken to the Don. He came home only after the end of the World War, in 1946.
He married again, in 1948 he married Angéla F. Nagy. He got a job as a dramaturg at the Youth Theater in 1949, and worked at the People's Army Theater in 1951. He was then a reviewer at the Szépirodalmi Kiadó. He took part in the 1956 revolution ("We lied at night, we lied during the day, we lied on all wavelengths"), which is why he was not allowed to publish between 1958 and 1963. Regardless, he wrote a lot during this period. He took a job at the United Pharmacy, working as a chemical engineer. In the meantime, he divorced his second wife in 1959. In 1965, he married for the third time, taking Zsuzsa Radnóti.
In the home of writer István Örkény in 1971 (source: MTI Photo/Éva Keleti)
He gained fame with his one-minute films and two dramas - Tóték (1967) and Macskajáték (1971).
Zoltán Fábri brought Tótek to canvas in 1969. Welcome, Major! with the title (starring Latinovits), and A Macskajáték was filmed by Károly Makk in 1974 with the same title.
He also wrote poems, although they did not become famous.
During his lifetime, he was awarded the Attila József Award twice (in 1955 and 1967), and in 1973 he was awarded the Kossuth Award. He won the Black Humor grand prize in Paris.
In 1979, he became seriously ill, but he still worked. He died at the age of 67, on June 24, 1979.
Örkény is the most outstanding figure of the Hungarian grotesque.
There are no clear good and bad characters in his works. Several of his works have been translated, and his plays are still performed today.
In 2014, he became a posthumous member of the Digital Literary Academy.
Source: Kárpátalja.ma / civilek.info / nfi.hu
Opening photo: István Örkény at his home in 1973. (source: MTI Photo/Molnár Edit)
