Attila József
| Attila József | |
|---|---|
Attila József in 1924
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| Born |
11 April 1905 Ferencváros, Budapest, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 3 December 1937 (aged 32) Balatonszárszó, Kingdom of Hungary |
| Nationality | Hungarian |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Relatives | Father Áron József Mother Borbála Pőcze Elder sisters Eta and Jolán |
Attila József (Hungarian: [ˈɒtilːɒ ˈjoːʒɛf]; 11 April 1905 – 3 December 1937) was a Hungarian poet of the 20th century.
Well, in the end I have found my home,
the land where flawless chiselled letters
guard my name above the grave
where I'm buried, if I have buriers.
Attila József, Ime, hát megleltem hazámat (first stanza), translated by Edwin Morgan
The son of Áron József - a soap factory worker of Transylvanian Romanian origin from Banat - and a Hungarian peasant girl - Borbála Pőcze - was born in Ferencváros, a poor district of Budapest. He had two elder sisters: Eta and Jolán. His father abandoned the family when he was just three years old. They lived in extreme poverty: the mother could barely support the three children and pay rent for the tiny flat they were living in. Thus the children were cared for by the National Child Protection League and foster parents in the country town of Öcsöd, where he worked on a farm. It was typical of the conditions there that his foster father said "There is no such name as 'Attila'", and therefore called him 'Pista'. The conditions were so bad that he escaped back to his mother in Budapest.
His mother died in 1919, aged only 43. After this, he was looked after by Ödön Makai, his brother-in-law, who was relatively wealthy and could pay for his education in a good secondary school. Later he applied to the Franz Joseph University – his dream was to become a secondary school teacher – but he was soon turned out when a man named Antal Horger determined he was unfit for teaching because of a provocative poem he had written (With All My Heart).
From this point on, he tried to support himself from the little money he earned by publishing his poems. He started showing signs of schizophrenia, and was treated by psychiatrists (now he probably would be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder). He never married and only had a small number of affairs, but frequently fell in love with the women who were treating him.
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