Mari Jászai

Mari Jászai (born Feb. 24, 1850, Ászár, Hung.—died Oct. 5, 1926, Budapest) was a Hungarian actress, one of the greatest Hungarian tragediennes.

Jászai’s rise to the top of her profession from a background of poverty was the result of enormous strength of will and an exceptional sense of vocation. She started her career as a chorus singer with small companies, first in Székesfehérvár, then in Buda (now Budapest). She performed her first role at the People’s Theatre in Buda in 1867–68. She then joined the theatre in Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca, Rom.), where she refined her talents in a number of leading roles, including that of Portia in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Zrínyi Ilona in Ede Szigligeti’s patriotic play Rákóczi Ferenc fogsága (“The Captivity of Francis Rákóczi II”), and Gertrudis in József Katona’s Bánk bán (“Viceroy Bank”).

In 1872 she was invited to join the National Theatre in Pest, where she soon took on lead roles. She played Éva in the premiere of Imre Madách’s Az ember tragédiája (“The Tragedy of Man”), Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and the title role in Jean Racine’s Phèdre, along with Sophocles’ Antigone and Electra. She also played various roles in Franz Grillparzer’s Medea and Sappho, Mirígy in Mihály Vörösmarty’s drama Csongor és Tünde (“Csongor and Tünde”), and Mrs. Alving in Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts. Her performances were marked by passion, intellectual depth, and great power. Her last performance was in 1925. Later she traveled the country reading from the poetry of Sándor Petőfi.

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In the fledgling Hungarian film industry she appeared in the silent films Bánk bán (1914) and A tolonc (1914; “The Vagrant”). Her autobiography, Emlékiratai (“Memoirs”), was published in 1927.