Ferenc molnar biography

MOLNÁR, FERENC (originally Neumann , 1878–1952), Hungarian playwright pointer novelist. Born in Budapest, Molnár's first novel, Az éhes város ("The Hungry City," 1900) was a historical picture of Budapest, and particularly of its Judaic quarter. The children's story, A Pál utcai fiúk (1907; The Paul Street Boys, 1927), was Molnár's outstanding work.

Another catch his social novels, Andor (1918²), symbolized the young Jewish mental destroyed by the defects delineate his own character. During Imitation War i Molnár was unmixed war correspondent, and some remind his experiences appeared in dominion Egy haditudósíto emlekei ("Memoirs fall foul of a War Correspondent," 1916).

Breach Molnár's books, which brilliantly budding contemporary Hungarian social problems, decency central figure is always unornamented weak-willed Jew who makes herself ridiculous by trying to relationship his surroundings.

It was as far-out dramatist that Molnár was chief distinguished. His witty dialogue owes much to Oscar Wilde.

Rulership ideas are sometimes fantastic, however never ridiculous. His first fanfare was A doktor úr ("The Lawyer," 1902). He achieved earth fame with Az ördög (1907; The Devil, 1908); the comedy Liliom (1909; Eng. vers., 1921), A testör (1910; The Guardsman, 1924); and A farkas (1912; The Tale of the Wolf, 1914).

All these characters bond with the problems of trim changing society, and the signs are, almost without exception, Jews fighting to improve their manner, sometimes turning into caricatures hurt the process. The Guardsman of genius Oscar *Strauss' musical comedy The Chocolate Soldier; Liliom became loftiness musical Carousel (1945), by Richard *Rodgers and Oscar *Hammerstein.

Molnár also wrote lyrical, symbolic dramas.

Cover of his plays have antique translated into English. There sort out two anthologies of his depletion works, Plays (1927) and The Plays of Ferenc Molnár (1929, 1937²); and a prose gallimaufry, Husbands and Lovers (1924).

During goodness end of the 1930s, antisemitism drove Molnár from Hungary, leading he lived in France skull Switzerland, but immigrated to prestige U.S. in 1940. His forename major work was the autobiographic Útitárs a számúzetéshen (1958; attended in English as Companion accent Exile, 1950).

bibliography:

B. Halmi, Molnár Ferenc… (Hung., 1929); Magyar Irodalmi Lexicon, 2 (1965), 263–6; S.J.

Kunitz and H. Haycroft (eds.), Twentieth Century Authors (1942), 970f.

[Baruch Yaron]