Lajos Zilahy facts for kids
Lajos Zilahy (born March 27, 1891 – died December 1, 1974) was a famous Hungarian writer and playwright. He was born in Nagyszalonta, which was part of Austria-Hungary at the time. Today, this town is called Salonta and is in Romania.
Lajos Zilahy first studied law at the University of Budapest. Later, he joined the Austro-Hungarian army and fought in World War I. He was hurt during the war on the Eastern Front. This experience later inspired his very popular novel, Two Prisoners.
He was also very involved in making movies. His novel Something Is Drifting on the Water was made into a film twice. His play The General was also turned into movies like The Virtuous Sin and The Rebel.
From 1940 to 1944, Zilahy edited an art magazine called Híd (which means "The Bridge"). He did not agree with either fascism or communism. In 1939, he started his own film studio called Pegazus. This studio made movies until 1943, and Zilahy even directed some of them himself. In 1944, his play Fatornyok (Wooden Towers) was not allowed to be shown.
In the early 1940s, Zilahy gave all his money and property to the government. He wanted it to be used to teach young people about world peace. This led to the creation of a school called Kitűnőek Iskolája.
Lajos Zilahy became the Secretary General of the Hungarian PEN club, which is a group for writers. However, his ideas about freedom and fairness caused problems. First, he disagreed with the right-wing government of Miklós Horthy. Later, he also disagreed with the Communist government after the war.
Because of these disagreements, Zilahy left Hungary in 1947. He spent the rest of his life living in the United States. While there, he finished a series of three novels called A Dukay család. These books told the story of a made-up Hungarian noble family from the time of Napoleon up to the mid-1900s. Lajos Zilahy passed away in Novi Sad, Serbia, which was then part of Yugoslavia.
Many of his novels have been translated into different languages around the world. These include English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese. Some of his plays and short stories have also been translated. This shows how popular his work was internationally.
Contents
Selected Novels
- Something Is Drifting on the Water (Valamit visz a víz) (1928)
- Two Prisoners (Két fogoly) (1931)
- The Deserter (1932)
- Az utolsó szerep (1935)
- A fegyverek visszanéznek (1936)
- The Dukays (Résmetszet alkonyat) (1949)
- The Angry Angel (A dühödt angyal) (1953)
- Century in Scarlet (Bíbor évszázad) (1965)
Selected Plays
- Hazajáró lélek (1923)
- Süt a nap (1924)
- Siberia (Szibéria) (1928)
- The General (A tábornok) (1928)
- Firebird (Tűzmadár) (1932)
His Work in Film
Lajos Zilahy was involved in many films, either through his stories, screenplays, or as a director.
Films Based on His Works
- Rongyosok (1926), based on his novel.
- The Virtuous Sin (1930), based on his play The General.
- Generalen (Swedish, 1931), also based on The General.
- The Rebel (French, 1931), also based on The General.
- Die Nacht der Entscheidung (German, 1931), also based on The General.
- Cette nuit-là (French, 1933), based on his play The Firebird.
- The Firebird (1934), also based on The Firebird.
- Két fogoly (Hungarian, 1938), based on his novel Two Prisoners.
- Süt a nap (Hungarian, 1939), based on his play Süt a nap.
- Hazajáró lélek (Hungarian, 1940), based on his play Hazajáró lélek.
- Valamit visz a víz (Hungarian, 1944), based on his novel Something Is Drifting on the Water.
- El pecado de una madre (Mexican, 1944), based on his play The Firebird.
- Her Final Role (French, 1946), based on his novel Az utolsó szerep.
- Algo flota sobre el agua (Mexican, 1948), based on his novel Something Is Drifting on the Water.
- The Golden Bridge (German, 1956), based on his novel A fegyverek visszanéznek.
- The Open Door (Spanish, 1957), based on his play The Firebird.
- Adrift (Czech, 1969/71), based on his novel Something Is Drifting on the Water.
Screenwriter
Lajos Zilahy also wrote screenplays for these films:
- Egy lány elindul (1937)
- Szívet szívért (1937)
- Halálos tavasz (1939)
- A szüz és a gödölye (1941)
Director
He directed the following films:
- Hazajáró lélek (1940)
- A szüz és a gödölye (1941)
- Valamit visz a víz (1944)
See also
In Spanish: Lajos Zilahy para niños
