Kálmán Mikszáth

Kálmán Mikszáth (born January 16, 1847, Szklabonya, Hungary [now Sklabiná, Slovakia]—died May 28, 1910, Budapest) was a novelist, regarded by contemporaries and succeeding generations alike as the outstanding Hungarian writer at the turn of the century. He studied law but soon took up journalism. In 1887, already famous, he was elected to the National Assembly.

Mikszáth scored his first success with two volumes of short stories entitled A tót atyafiak (1881; “The Slovak Kinsfolk”), and A jó palócok (1882; “The Good Palócs”). In 1894 he published his first novel, Beszterce ostroma (“The Siege of Beszterce”), the story of an eccentric Hungarian aristocrat. Mikszáth’s early art is romantic. Toward the end of the century he became more realistic as the writer of everyday life, which he described with understanding and sympathy, though he did not hesitate to pillory the shortcomings of society with sharp-witted satire.

Only toward the end of his life did Mikszáth succeed in creating such full-sized novels as his two principal works Különös házasság (1900; “A Strange Marriage”) and A Noszty fiu esete Tóth Marival (1908; “The Noszty Boy and Mary Tóth”). The first of these works is set in early 19th-century Hungary and deals with the fight of two lovers against the oppressive forces of society. The second tells the story of a frivolous young noble who tries to make a fortune by seducing a rich middle-class girl. Mikszáth’s last work, A fekete város (1910; “The Black City”), is the finest of his historical novels.