József Katona

For the Hungarian swimmer, see József Katona (swimmer).

The native form of this personal name is Katona József. This article uses the Western name order.

József Katona (Lithograph by Miklós Barabás)

József Katona (11 November 1791, Kecskemét – 16 April 1830, Kecskemét) was a Hungarian playwright and poet, creator of the Hungarian drama: author of the legendary historical tragedy: Bánk bán.

Biography

József Katona was born and died in Kecskemét. He studied at the University of Pest as a lawyer, and at the same time, he took part in theatrical life of the capital: he was an actor, he wrote several plays, and he also translated and adapted German melodramatic works for the Hungarian stage. He hopelessly loved the leading Hungarian actress, Mme Déry, but she never recognized this love.

József Katona wrote Bánk bán, his most important drama for a literary competition organized by a Kolozsvár periodical in 1815. The competition required a historical drama with a Hungarian background. The result of the competition was disappointment for Katona: his Bánk Bán was not mentioned at all. He rewrote the play and published it privately in 1820, but it remained unnoticed until the mid-1830s. He returned to his native town Kecskemet. In the last ten years of his life, he wrote no more for the stage. Katona died on April 16, 1830, of a heart-attack in front of his office.

Works

Aubigny Clementina, 1813
Ziska, 1813
Jeruzsálem pusztulása, 1814
A rózsa, vagy a tapasztalatlan légy a pókok között, 1814
Bánk bán (Hungarian text), 1815; final version, 1819

Bánk bán

The story was about Bánk, the viceroy appointed by King Andrew II (1205–35), while the King was away on his foreign campaigns. Bánk became involved in a conspiracy against the German-born wife of the king; he tries to prevent the rebellion, but finally he is the man who kills the queen. His reason for the murder was political and personal at the same time: Queen Gertrude had taken part in a plot to seduce Bánk’s wife. Bánk's complex character and the deep conflict between duty and personal grief make Bánk Bán one of the best Hungarian dramas. It was written at the time when the intellectuals of the country opposed Habsburg absolutism, and the drama is about mediaeval times when Hungary’s nobility fought against foreign usurpers as well, so the drama had been blacklisted by the government. In 1848, in the evening of March 15, the Hungarian National Theater scheduled a performance of Bánk Bán. It was a symbolic event, part of the Hungarian revolution.

Bibliography

József Katona: Bánk bán (The viceroy), translated by Bernard Adams and Kálmán Ruttkay; foreword written by László Orosz - Budapest : Akad. K., cop. 2003.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to József Katona.

Hungarian literature

Early sources	Funeral Sermon and Prayer Old Hungarian Lamentations of Mary Gesta Hungarorum Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum Chronicon Pictum

15th – 17th century	Bálint Balassi Péter Bornemisza István Gyöngyösi Gáspár Heltai Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos Janus Pannonius Péter Pázmány Miklós Zrínyi

18th – 19th century	Zoltán Ambrus János Arany József Bajza János Batsányi Elek Benedek Dániel Berzsenyi Sándor Bródy Gergely Csiky Mihály Csokonai Vitéz József Eötvös Mihály Fazekas János Garay Géza Gárdonyi Ignotus Mór Jókai József Kármán József Katona Ferenc Kazinczy Zsigmond Kemény Károly Kisfaludy Sándor Kisfaludy Ferenc Kölcsey Imre Madách Kelemen Mikes Kálmán Mikszáth Sándor Petőfi István Széchenyi Ede Szigligeti Mihály Tompa János Vajda Mihály Vörösmarty

20th century	Endre Ady Lajos Áprily Mihály Babits Béla Balázs Miklós Bánffy Géza Csáth Tibor Déry György Faludy István Fekete Miksa Fenyő Jolán Földes Milán Füst Géza Gyóni Béla Hamvas Ferenc Herczeg Gyula Illyés Éva Janikovszky Attila József Gyula Juhász Margit Kaffka László Kálnoky Ferenc Karinthy Frigyes Karinthy Lajos Kassák Géza Képes János Kodolányi Károly Kós Dezső Kosztolányi Gyula Krúdy Ervin Lázár Menyhért Lengyel Iván Mándy Sándor Márai Ferenc Molnár Ferenc Móra Zsigmond Móricz Gáspár Nagy László Nagy Ágnes Nemes Nagy László Németh József Nyírő Géza Ottlik István Örkény János Pilinszky Miklós Radnóti Jenő Rejtő Sándor Reményik András Sütő Dezső Szabó Lőrinc Szabó Magda Szabó Sándor Szathmári Miklós Szentkuthy Mária Szepes Antal Szerb Áron Tamási Árpád Tóth Albert Wass Sándor Weöres Lajos Zilahy Péter Zsoldos

Contemporary	Tamás Cseh Sándor Csoóri György Dragomán Péter Esterházy Ágnes Gergely Gábor Görgey Anna Jókai Ferenc Juhász Sándor Kányádi Imre Kertész György Konrád László Krasznahorkai Endre Kukorelly László L. Lőrincz Béla Markó György Moldova Péter Nádas Ádám Nádasdy Lajos Parti Nagy Zsuzsa Rakovszky György Spiró Miklós Vámos

Category:Hungarian writers

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 46816704 LCCN: n80162796 ISNI: 0000 0001 0895 8393 GND: 119560143 SUDOC: 031208568 BNF: cb12246768m (data)

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