Geza Gardoni ( Gardoni ) ( Hungarian Gárdonyi Géza ; August 3, 1863 , Austrian Empire - October 30, 1922 , Eger , Hungary ) - Hungarian writer and journalist . He wrote a large number of scientific and artistic works. He is best known as the author of historical novels such as Eger Stars and The Invisible Man .
| Geza Gardoni | |
|---|---|
| Hungarian Gárdonyi géza | |
 | |
| Birth name | |
| Aliases | , , and |
| Date of Birth | August 3, 1863 |
| Place of Birth | Austrian Empire |
| Date of death | October 30, 1922 (59 years old) |
| Place of death | Eger , Hungary |
| Citizenship (citizenship) | |
| Occupation | prose writer , journalist |
| Genre | Historical prose |
| Language of Works | Hungarian |
Content
Biography
Gardoni was the son of a locksmith on the estate of aristocrats in eastern Hungary. He graduated from a teacher’s college and worked as a teacher and Catholic cantor for some time. Gardoni married Mary Molnar in 1885 , but the marriage was unhappy and was dissolved in 1892 .
In the mid -1880s, Gardoni began writing articles for magazines and newspapers. His first success was the satirical novels of rural life, Göre Gábor, from which he later disowned. At the turn of the century, Gardoni began to use historical themes in his works, which served as the basis for a series of popular stories.
Gardoni moved to Eger (today northern Hungary) in 1897 with his mother and lived there until his death. The tomb of Geza Gardoni is in the Eger fortress ; it says: “Csak a teste” ( Only his body ). The house where Gardoni lived and where he wrote most of his famous works is now turned into a museum.
The most famous works
Eger Stars
One of Gardoni’s most famous works, Egri csillagok, was first published in 1899 . Literary name is translated as " Eger Stars". The book tells about the famous siege of the Hungarian city of Eger by the Turkish troops of the Ottoman Empire in 1552 . Among his heroes is the famous Balint Török and the former Chebestien Tinodi who was in his service. In 1968, the director Zoltan Varkonyi made a film of the same name based on the novel. In 2002, Eger Stars was chosen as the “Most Popular Hungarian Novel” by viewers of the Big Read TV show (in Hungary, A Nagy Könyv).
Invisible Man
According to some, the book “A láthatatlan ember”, published in 1901, should be considered the best work of Gardoni. This opinion may also be due to the fact that this book (unlike The Eger Stars) is more accessible to non-Hungarian readers. The work tells about the times when the leader of the Huns Attila lived. Most of the story is about the visit of the Byzantine diplomat Priscus of Panius to the camp of Attila. The hero of the novel is a young Byzantine slave named Zeta who fell in love with a Hunnish girl. Zeta escapes and becomes a slave to the Huns, which gives him hope to marry a beloved girl. The book also includes a dramatic description of the Battle of the Catalunian Fields between the Huns and the Romans.
Both of these novels by Gardoni are well known in Hungary, but they began to be translated into other languages and widely published abroad only in the second half of the twentieth century.
Bibliography
- Egri csillagok ( Eger Stars )
- A láthatatlan ember (The Invisible Man )
- Isten rabjai ( Prisoner of God )
- A lámpás ( Lamp )
- A bor ( Wine )
- Ida regénye ( Ida's Tale )
- Hosszúhajú veszedelem ( Long haired dangerous man )