Péter Esterházy

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:AmboxTemplate:DMCA }} Template:Eastern name orderTemplate:Infobox writerPéter Esterházy (14 April 1950 – 14 July 2016) was a Hungarian writer. He was one of the best known Hungarian<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=nyt>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Central European<ref name="reuters death" /> writers of his era. He was called a "leading figure of 20th century Hungarian literature",<ref name=sabah>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and his books were considered to be significant contributions to post-war literature.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Biography

Esterházy was born in Budapest on 14 April 1950, the eldest son of Mátyás Esterházy de Galántha (1919–1998) (Count Esterházy until 1947, when all titles and ranks were abolished)<ref>The Statute IV of 1947, which is still in force in Hungary, declares the abolition of hereditary noble ranks and related styles and titles, also banning their use.</ref> and Magdolna Mányoki (1916–1980). His paternal grandfather was Count Móric Esterházy (1881–1960), who briefly served as Prime Minister of Hungary in 1917. Through his paternal grandmother Countess Margit Károlyi (1896–1975), one of his ancestors was Count Gyula Károlyi (1871–1947), also Prime Minister from 1931 to 1932.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Péter had three younger brothers, including international football player Márton Esterházy (born 1956).

Esterházy was educated as a mathematician and began to write in the 1970s.<ref name="reuters death" /> He is perhaps best known outside of his native country for Celestial Harmonies (Harmonia Caelestis, 2001) which chronicles his forefathers' epic rise during the Austro-Hungarian empire to their dispossession under communism.<ref name=nyt/><ref name=sabah/> His next novel, Revised Edition or Corrected Version (Javított kiadás, 2002), which appeared as an appendix to the former work, deals with his realisation that his father was an informant for the secret police during the communist era.<ref name=sabah/><ref name="reuters death" />

After the regime change in 1989, Péter Esterházy refused to accept the return of any land or valuables nationalized by the communists.

Many of his other works also deal with the experience of living under a communist regime and in a post-communist country.<ref name=sabah/><ref name="reuters death" /> He wrote in a style that can be characterised as postmodernist<ref name="reuters death" /> and his prose was described by John Updike as "jumpy, allusive, and slangy. ...there is vividness, an electric crackle. The sentences are active and concrete. Physical details leap from the murk of emotional ambivalence".<ref name=sabah/> In an obituary published by Reuters, his literary technique is described as "Employing a stop-and-go rhythm, his writing concentrated on twists and surprises rather than straight narrative lines, combining personal experiences with references, quotes and all shades of jokes from sarcasm to toilet humor, sometimes including texts of other authors."<ref name="reuters death" />

His works have been published in more than 20 languages.<ref name=sabah/><ref name="reuters death" /> He was awarded several literary distinctions in Hungary, including the prestigious Kossuth Prize in 1996,<ref name=nyt/> and has received awards for his work in France, Austria, Germany, Slovenia and Poland.

He was highly critical of the authoritarian tendencies of Viktor Orbán's administration, declaring that "Orbán is not a statesman" and that "the Orbán system is damaging to Hungary. Our Democracy is not liberal, freedom of the press is limited, and the division of power is inadequate."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He was married to Margit Reén, and had four children.<ref name=nyt/>

In October 2015, it became public knowledge that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He died on 14 July 2016.<ref name="reuters death">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Works published in English

(The italicized dates refer to original publication, other dates refer to the English-language publications.)

• Helping Verbs of the Heart (A szív segédigéi, 1985, 1990, 1991, 1996)
• The Transporters (Fuharosok, 1983, 1991, 1994)
• The Book of Hrabal (Hrabal könyve, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996)
• The Glance of Countess Hahn-Hahn (Down the Danube) (Hahn-Hahn grófnő pillantása, 1991, 1994, 1998, 1999)
• She loves me (Egy nő, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998)
• A Little Hungarian Pornography (Kis magyar pornográfia, 1984, 1995, 1997)
• Celestial Harmonies: A Novel (Harmonia Caelestis, 2001, 2004)
• Not Art (Semmi művészet, 2008, 2010)

International awards

• Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France<ref name=rai>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Order of Merit, Romania<ref name=romania>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Austrian State Prize for European Literature, Austria<ref name=stateprize>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Herder Prize, Austria and Germany<ref name=rai/>
• Vilenica Prize, Slovenia<ref name=vilenica>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, Germany<ref name=peace>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Angelus Award, Poland<ref name=angelus>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

• Template:Interlanguage link multi, Italy<ref name=mondello>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• International Masi Grosso d'Oro Veneziano Prize, Italy<ref name=masi>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Membership

• Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (Darmstadt)<ref name=akademiedarmstadt>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Akademie der Künste (Berlin)<ref name=akademieberlin>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Further reading

• Obituary published in Die Welt (in German)

Bibliography

• Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven (斯蒂文·托托西演). 文学研究的合法化: 一种新实用主义 ·整体化和经主 义文学与文化研究方法 (Legitimizing the Study of Literature: A New Pragmatism and the Systemic Approach to Literature and Culture). Trans. Ma Jui-ch'i (马瑞琪翻). Beijing: Peking University Press, 1997. 111–134.
• Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven. "Cultures, Peripheralities, and Comparative Literature." Comparative Literature: Theory, Method, Application. By Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1998. 121–175.

External links

• Video Interview PEN World Voices at LIVE from the New York Public Library 4 May 2008
• A comprehensive record on him in Hungarian Literature Database