Gyula Illyés born Gyula Illés (2 November 1902 – 15 April 1983) was a Hungarian poet and novelist. He was one of the so-called népi ("from the people") writers, named so because they aimed to show – propelled by strong sociological interest and left-wing convictions – the disadvantageous conditions of their native land.
Illyés Gyula | |
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Born | (1902-11-02)2 November 1902 Felsőrácegrespuszta, near Sárszentlőrinc, Tolna County |
Died | 15 April 1983(1983-04-15) (aged 80) Budapest |
Nationality | Hungarian |
Spouse | Irma Juvancz (married 1931) Flóra Kozmutza (married 1939) |
Relatives | Father: János Illés Mother: Ida Kálley Daughter: Maria |
He was born the son of János Illés (1870 – 1931) and Ida Kállay (1878 – 1931) in Tolna County. His father was Catholic, while the Kállays were Calvinists. János was initially a shepherd like his father, then learned the trade of blacksmith, and took jobs in various manors making repairs, and later becoming a supervisor of blacksmiths, stokers and machinists. Ida came from a mainly peasant family, although the Kállays also gave soldiers and preachers to the country. His maternal grandfather was a wheelwright in the manor of Felsőrácegrespuszta. He was their third child and spent his first nine years at his birthplace, where he finished his primary school years (1908 – 1912) and when his family moved to Simontornya, he continued his education at grammar schools there and Dombóvár (1913 – 1914) and Bonyhád (1914 – 1916). In 1916 his parents separated, and he moved to the capital with his mother. He continued senior high school at the Budapest Munkácsy Mihály street gimnazium (1916 – 1917) and at the Izabella Street Kereskedelmi school (1917 – 1921). In 1921 he graduated. From 1918 to 1919 he took part in various left-wing students and youth workers' movements, being present at an attack on Romanian forces in Szolnok during the Hungarian Republic of Councils. On 22 December 1920 his first poem was published (El ne essél, testvér) anonymously in the Social Democrat daily Népszava.
He began studies at the Budapest University's department of languages studying Hungarian and French. Due to illegal political activities he was forced to escape to Vienna in December that year, moving on to Berlin and the Rhineland in 1922.
Illyés arrived in Paris in April that year; living at 9 Rue Budé, Île Saint-Louis.[1] He did numerous jobs including as a bookbinder. For a while he studied at the Sorbonne and published his first articles and translations in 1923. He became friends with the French surrealists, among them Paul Éluard, Tristan Tzara and René Crevel (each visited him later in Hungary).
During his emigration to Paris, to spare his family members back home he published poems under the name Gyula Illyés (from 1925), and he continued to be published under this pen name, which he took on officially in 1933.
Illyés returned to homeland in 1926 following an amnesty. His main forums of activity became Dokumentum and Munka, periodicals edited by the avant-garde writer and poet Lajos Kassák.
Illyés worked for the Phoenix Insurance company from 1927 to 1936, and after its bankruptcy he became press referent to the Hungarian National Bank on French agricultural matters (1937 – 1944).
His first critical writing appeared in November 1927 in the review Nyugat ("Occident") – the most distinguished literary magazine of the time –which from 1928 regularly featured his articles and poems. His first book (Nehéz Föld) was also published by Nyugat in 1928.
He made friends with Attila József, László Németh, Lőrinc Szabó József Erdélyi [hu], János Kodolányi and Péter Veres, at the time the leading talents of his generation.
In 1931 he married his first wife, Irma Juvancz, a physical education teacher, whom he later divorced.
Illyés was invited to the Soviet Union in 1934 to take part in the 1st Congress of the Soviet Writers' Union where he met André Malraux and Boris Pasternak. From that year he also participated in the editorial work of the review Válasz (Argument), the forum of the young "népi" writers.
He was one of the founding members of the March Front [hu] (1937 – 1939), a left-wing and anti-fascist movement. Subsequently, he was invited to the editorial board of Nyugat and became a close friend of its editor, the post-symbolist poet and writer Mihály Babits.
During World War II, Illyés was nominated editor-in-chief of Nyugat following the death of Mihály Babits. Having been refused by the authorities to use the name Nyugat for the magazine, he continued to publish the review under a different title: Magyar Csillag ("Hungarian Star").
In 1939 he married Flóra Kozmuta, with whom he had a daughter, Mária.
After the Nazi invasion of Hungary in March 1944, Illyés had to go into hiding along with László Németh, both being labelled anti-Nazi intellectuals.
He became a member of the parliament of Hungary in 1945, and one of the leaders of the left-wing National Peasant Party. He withdrew from public life in 1947 as the communist takeover of government was approaching. He was a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences from 1945 to 1949. He directed and edited the review Válasz from 1946 to 1949.
Although Gyula lived a reclusive life in Tihany and Budapest until the early 1960s, his poetry, prose, theater plays and essays continued to impact Hungarian public and literary life.
On 2 November 1956 he published his famous poem of the Hungarian revolution of 1956, which was not allowed to be republished in Hungary until 1986: "One sentence on tyranny" is a long poem written in 1950.
From the early 1960s he continued to express political, social and moral issues all through his work, but the main themes of his poetry remain love, life and death. Active until his death in April 1983, he published poems, dramas, essays and parts of his diary. His work as a translator is also considerable.
He translated from many languages, French being the most important, but – with the help of rough translations – his volume of translations from the ancient Chinese classics remains a milestone.
In his poetry, Illyés was a spokesman for the oppressed peasant class. Typical is "People of the puszta", A puszták népe, 1936. His later work is marked by a more open universality, as well as an appeal for national and individual liberty.
Herder Prize Laureates | |
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1964–1970 |
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1971–1980 |
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1981–1990 |
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1991–2000 |
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2001–2006 |
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Recipients of the Mondello Prize | |
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Single Prize for Literature: Bartolo Cattafi (1975) • Achille Campanile (1976) • Günter Grass (1977) | |
Special Jury Prize: Denise McSmith (1975) • Stefano D'Arrigo (1977) • Jurij Trifonov (1978) • Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1979) • Pietro Consagra (1980) • Ignazio Buttitta, Angelo Maria e Ela Ripellino (1983) • Leonardo Sciascia (1985) • Wang Meng (1987) • Mikhail Gorbaciov (1988) • Peter Carey, José Donoso, Northrop Frye, Jorge Semprún, Wole Soyinka, Lu Tongliu (1990) • Fernanda Pivano (1992) • Associazione Scrittori Cinesi (1993) • Dong Baoucum, Fan Boaci, Wang Huanbao, Shi Peide, Chen Yuanbin (1995) • Xu Huainzhong, Xiao Xue, Yu Yougqnan, Qin Weinjung (1996) • Khushwant Singh (1997) • Javier Marías (1998) • Francesco Burdin (2001) • Luciano Erba (2002) • Isabella Quarantotti De Filippo (2003) • Marina Rullo (2006) • Andrea Ceccherini (2007) • Enrique Vila-Matas (2009) • Francesco Forgione (2010) | |
First narrative work: Carmelo Samonà (1978) • Fausta Garavini (1979) | |
First poetic work: Giovanni Giuga (1978) • Gilberto Sacerdoti (1979) | |
Prize for foreign literature: Milan Kundera (1978) • N. Scott Momaday (1979) • Juan Carlos Onetti (1980) • Tadeusz Konwicki (1981) | |
Prize for foreign poetry: Jannis Ritsos (1978) • Joseph Brodsky (1979) • Juan Gelman (1980) • Gyula Illyés (1981) | |
First work: Valerio Magrelli (1980) • Ferruccio Benzoni, Stefano Simoncelli, Walter Valeri, Laura Mancinelli (1981) • Jolanda Insana (1982) • Daniele Del Giudice (1983) • Aldo Busi (1984) • Elisabetta Rasy, Dario Villa (1985) • Marco Lodoli, Angelo Mainardi (1986) • Marco Ceriani, Giovanni Giudice (1987) • Edoardo Albinati, Silvana La Spina (1988) • Andrea Canobbio, Romana Petri (1990) • Anna Cascella (1991) • Marco Caporali, Nelida Milani (1992) • Silvana Grasso, Giulio Mozzi (1993) • Ernesto Franco (1994) • Roberto Deidier (1995) • Giuseppe Quatriglio, Tiziano Scarpa (1996) • Fabrizio Rondolino (1997) • Alba Donati (1998) • Paolo Febbraro (1999) • Evelina Santangelo (2000) • Giuseppe Lupo (2001) • Giovanni Bergamini, Simona Corso (2003) • Adriano Lo Monaco (2004) • Piercarlo Rizzi (2005) • Francesco Fontana (2006) • Paolo Fallai (2007) • Luca Giachi (2008) • Carlo Carabba (2009) • Gabriele Pedullà (2010) | |
Foreign author: Alain Robbe-Grillet (1982) • Thomas Bernhard (1983) • Adolfo Bioy Casares (1984) • Bernard Malamud (1985) • Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1986) • Doris Lessing (1987) • V. S. Naipaul (1988) • Octavio Paz (1989) • Christa Wolf (1990) • Kurt Vonnegut (1991) • Bohumil Hrabal (1992) • Seamus Heaney (1993) • J. M. Coetzee (1994) • Vladimir Vojnovič (1995) • David Grossman (1996) • Philippe Jaccottet (1998) • Don DeLillo (1999) • Aleksandar Tišma (2000) • Nuruddin Farah (2001) • Per Olov Enquist (2002) • Adunis (2003) • Les Murray (2004) • Magda Szabó (2005) • Uwe Timm (2006) • Bapsi Sidhwa (2007) • Viktor Erofeev (2009) • Edmund White (2010) • Javier Cercas (2011) • Elizabeth Strout (2012) • Péter Esterházy (2013) • Joe R. Lansdale (2014) • Emmanuel Carrère (2015) • Marilynne Robinson (2016) • Cees Nooteboom (2017) | |
Italian Author: Alberto Moravia (1982) • Vittorio Sereni alla memoria (1983) • Italo Calvino (1984) • Mario Luzi (1985) • Paolo Volponi (1986) • Luigi Malerba (1987) • Oreste del Buono (1988) • Giovanni Macchia (1989) • Gianni Celati, Emilio Villa (1990) • Andrea Zanzotto (1991) • Ottiero Ottieri (1992) • Attilio Bertolucci (1993) • Luigi Meneghello (1994) • Fernando Bandini, Michele Perriera (1995) • Nico Orengo (1996) • Giuseppe Bonaviri, Giovanni Raboni (1997) • Carlo Ginzburg (1998) • Alessandro Parronchi (1999) • Elio Bartolini (2000) • Roberto Alajmo (2001) • Andrea Camilleri (2002) • Andrea Carraro, Antonio Franchini, Giorgio Pressburger (2003) • Maurizio Bettini, Giorgio Montefoschi, Nelo Risi (2004) • pr. Raffaele Nigro, sec. Maurizio Cucchi, ter. Giuseppe Conte (2005) • pr. Paolo Di Stefano, sec. Giulio Angioni (2006) • pr. Mario Fortunato, sec. Toni Maraini, ter. Andrea Di Consoli (2007) • pr. Andrea Bajani, sec. Antonio Scurati, ter. Flavio Soriga (2008) • pr. Mario Desiati, sec. Osvaldo Guerrieri, ter. Gregorio Scalise (2009) • pr. Lorenzo Pavolini, sec. Roberto Cazzola, ter. (2010) • pr. Eugenio Baroncelli, sec. Milo De Angelis, ter. Igiaba Scego (2011) • pr. Edoardo Albinati, sec. Paolo Di Paolo, ter. Davide Orecchio (2012) • pr. Andrea Canobbio, sec. Valerio Magrelli, ter. Walter Siti (2013) • pr. Irene Chias, sec. Giorgio Falco, ter. Francesco Pecoraro (2014) • pr. Nicola Lagioia, sec. Letizia Muratori, ter. Marco Missiroli (2015) • pr. Marcello Fois, sec. Emanuele Tonon, ter. Romana Petri (2016) • pr. Stefano Massini, sec. Alessandro Zaccuri, ter. Alessandra Sarchi (2017) | |
"Five Continents" Award: Kōbō Abe, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Germaine Greer, Wilson Harris, José Saramago (1992) • Kenzaburō Ōe (1993) • Stephen Spender (1994) • Thomas Keneally, Alberto Arbasino (1996) • Margaret Atwood, André Brink, David Malouf, Romesh Gunesekera, Christoph Ransmayr (1997) | |
"Palermo bridge for Europe" Award: Dacia Maraini (1999), Premio Palermo ponte per il Mediterraneo Alberto Arbasino (2000) | |
"Ignazio Buttitta" Award: Nino De Vita (2003) • Attilio Lolini (2005) • Roberto Rossi Precerotti (2006) • Silvia Bre (2007) | |
Supermondello Tiziano Scarpa (2009) • Michela Murgia (2010) • Eugenio Baroncelli (2011) • Davide Orecchio (2012) • Valerio Magrelli (2013) • Giorgio Falco (2014) • Marco Missiroli (2015) • Romana Petri (2016) • Stefano Massini (2017) | |
Special award of the President: Ibrahim al-Koni (2009) • Emmanuele Maria Emanuele (2010) • Antonio Calabrò (2011) | |
Poetry prize: Antonio Riccardi (2010) | |
Translation Award: Evgenij Solonovic (2010) | |
Identity and dialectal literatures award: Gialuigi Beccaria e Marco Paolini (2010) | |
Essays Prize: Marzio Barbagli (2010) | |
Mondello for Multiculturality Award: Kim Thúy (2011) | |
Mondello Youths Award: Claudia Durastanti (2011) • Edoardo Albinati (2012) • Alessandro Zaccuri (2017) | |
"Targa Archimede", Premio all'Intelligenza d'Impresa: Enzo Sellerio (2011) | |
Prize for Literary Criticism: Salvatore Silvano Nigro (2012) • Maurizio Bettini (2013) • Enrico Testa (2014) • Ermanno Cavazzoni (2015) • Serena Vitale (2016) • Antonio Prete (2017) | |
Award for best motivation: Simona Gioè (2012) | |
Special award for travel literature: Marina Valensise (2013) | |
Special Award 40 Years of Mondello: Gipi (2014) |
General | |
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National libraries | |
Biographical dictionaries | |
Scientific databases | |
Other |
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