About
Antal Szerb, born in Budapest to an assimilated Jewish family and baptized Catholic, was a Hungarian writer and literary historian. After earning a PhD in literature, he traveled in Europe, spending time in London. He became president of the Hungarian Literary Academy in 1933 and published histories of Hungarian and world literature. His most famous novel, 'Journey by Moonlight' (1937), is set in Italy. A victim of anti-Semitic laws, he was deported to a forced-labor camp where he died in 1945.
* 1901-05-01 — † 1945-01-27
Major works
- A Pendragon-legenda (1934)novel
- Utas és holdvilág (1937)novel
- A világirodalom története (1941)literary history
- VII. Olivér (1942)novel
- A királyné nyaklánca (1943)novel
Key milestones
- 1933Elected president of the Hungarian Literary Academy at age 32.
- 1937Appointed professor of literature at the University of Szeged.
- 1945Died at the Balf forced-labor camp, beaten to death.
Themes
identity and belongingtravel and self-discoveryhistory and memoryirony and humormarginality and exclusion
Sources: encyclopedia.yivo.org · nyrb.com · pushkinpress.com