Аттила Йожеф: Жизнь и творчество венгерского поэта

Hungarian poet

Attila József (; 11 April 1905 – 3 December 1937) was one of the most famous Hungarian poets of the 20th century. Generally not recognized during his lifetime, József was hailed during the communist era of the 1950s as Hungary's great "proletarian poet" and he has become the best known of the modern Hungarian poets internationally.

Attila József was born in Ferencváros, a poor district of Budapest, in 1905 to Áron József, a soap factory worker of Székely and Romanian origin from Banat, and Borbála Pőcze, a Hungarian peasant girl with Cuman ancestry; he had two elder sisters, Eta and Jolán. When József was three years old, he was sent to live with foster parents after his father abandoned the family and his mother became ill. At the time of his birth, Attila was not a well known name; because of this, his foster parents called him Pista, a nickname for the Hungarian version of Stephen. He never married and only had a small number of affairs, but frequently fell in love with the women who were treating him. József died on 3 December 1937, aged 32, in Balatonszárszó. At the time, he was staying at the house of his sister and brother in law. He was killed while crawling through railway tracks where he was crushed by a starting train. There is a memorial to him not far from the location where he died. The most widely accepted view is that he committed suicide, which he had previously attempted; he wrote five farewell letters that day.

József published his first volume of poetry A szépség koldusa (Beauty's beggar) in 1922; at the time of publishing, he was seventeen and still in school. In 1925, József published his second collection of poems, Nem én kiáltok (It's not me who shouts). József's works were praised by such internationally known Hungarian researchers and critics as Béla Balázs and György Lukács. In 1927, several French magazines published József's poems. József's third collection of poems, Nincsen apám se anyám (1929) (I have neither father nor mother), showed the influence of French surrealism and Hungarian poets Endre Ady, Gyula Juhász and Lajos Kassák. In the 1930s, József turned his focus from a search for beauty to the plight of the working class and reflected his interest in Communism. József's political essays were later included in Volume 3. of his Collected Works (1958).

Exhibition of paintings "Je ne crie pas"/"Nem kiáltok !" ("I do not shriek") by Thibault Boutherin, a tribute to József's poem "Nem én kiáltok" ("No Shriek of Mine") and dedicated to SGG, in the Károlyi Foundation in Féhervárcsurgó (Hungary) August/November 2007. American band The Party recorded a country folk version of Peter Hargitai's English translation of "Tiszta szívvel" ("With All My Heart") in 2004. Hungary issued postage stamp in his honor on 15 March 1947, 28 July 1955, 11 April 1980 and 11 April 2005.