Attila József
Hungarian poet, hailed posthumously as a proletarian poet.
Attila József (11 April 1905 – 3 December 1937) is among the most widely recognized Hungarian poets of the 20th century, though he received little acclaim while alive. During the communist period of the 1950s, he was celebrated as Hungary's leading "proletarian poet," and he remains the best-known modern Hungarian poet abroad.
He was born in Ferencváros, a poor Budapest district, to Áron József, a soap factory worker of Székely and Romanian origin from Banat, and Borbála Pőcze, a Hungarian peasant with Cuman ancestry. He had two older sisters, Eta and Jolán. When Attila was three, his father left the family and his mother fell ill, so he was sent to live with foster parents. Because his first name was unusual at the time, they called him Pista, a nickname for the Hungarian Stephen. From age seven to fourteen, he lived again with his mother until she died of cancer in 1919 at 43. While attending school, he worked various odd jobs and described himself as a street urchin. After her death, his brother-in-law, Ödön Makai, a relatively wealthy man, supported his education at a good secondary school.
In 1924, József entered Franz Joseph University to study Hungarian and French literature, aiming to become a secondary school teacher. He was expelled after writing the provocative poem *Tiszta szívvel* ("With a pure heart" or "With all my heart"), deemed unfit to teach. In 1925, he traveled to Vienna with his manuscripts, selling newspapers and cleaning dormitories to survive, then spent two years in Paris studying at the Sorbonne. There he read Hegel and Karl Marx, whose revolutionary call appealed to him, as well as the work of the 15th-century poet and thief François Villon. He was supported by small earnings from publishing poems and by his patron Lajos Hatvany. Returning to Hungary, he studied at Pest University for a year, then worked as a French correspondent for the Foreign Trade Institute and later edited the literary journal *Szép Szó* (Beautiful Word).
A supporter of the working class, József joined the illegal Communist Party of Hungary (KMP) in 1930. His 1931 work *Döntsd a tőkét* (Blow down the block/capital) was confiscated by the public prosecutor, and his later essay "Literature and Socialism" (*Irodalom és szocializmus*) led to an indictment. In 1936, he was expelled from the party due to his independence and interest in Freud.
Quick Facts
- Birth Date
- 1905-04-11
- Birth Place
- Budapest, Austria-Hungary
- Death Date
- 1937-12-03
- Death Place
- Balatonszárszó, Kingdom of Hungary
- Genre
- Poetry
- Native Name
- József Attila
- Language
- Hungarian
- Period
- 1922–1937
- Resting Place
- Kerepesi Cemetery, Budapest, Hungary
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Attila József was born in Ferencváros, a poor district of Budapest, to Áron József, a soap factory worker, and Borbála Pőcze. At age three, he was sent to live with foster parents after his father abandoned the family and his mother became ill. His foster parents called him Pista. From ages seven to fourteen, he lived with his mother until she died of cancer in 1919. He worked odd jobs and was a self-described street urchin. After his mother's death, his brother-in-law Ödön Makai paid for his secondary education.
In 1924, József entered Franz Joseph University to study Hungarian and French literature but was expelled after writing the poem 'Tiszta szívvel'. He traveled to Vienna in 1925, then to Paris for two years, studying at the Sorbonne and reading Hegel, Karl Marx, and François Villon. He returned to Hungary, studied at Pest University, worked as a French correspondent, and later edited the literary journal Szép Szó. He joined the illegal Communist Party of Hungary in 1930 but was expelled in 1936 due to his independence and interest in Freud. He showed signs of mental illness from childhood and was diagnosed with 'neurasthenia gravis'; modern scholars suggest borderline personality disorder. He died on 3 December 1937, aged 32, crushed by a train in Balatonszárszó; the most widely accepted view is suicide.
Reader's Guide
Attila József's significance lies in his evolution from a poet of beauty to a voice for the working class, reflecting his communist sympathies. His works, such as 'Külvárosi éj' (1932) and 'Nagyon fáj' (1936), gained critical attention late in his life. He formulated the ars poetica of transrealism in his 1937 poem 'Welcome to Thomas Mann'. Posthumously, his collected works were published, and he became internationally recognized as the best known modern Hungarian poet. His legacy includes multiple English translations and tributes, such as postage stamps issued by Hungary in 1947, 1955, 1980, and 2005. His life and death, marked by mental illness and probable suicide, add a tragic dimension to his literary reputation.
Did You Know?
- Attila József was sent to live with foster parents at age three after his father abandoned the family and his mother became ill.
- He was expelled from Franz Joseph University after writing the provocative poem 'Tiszta szívvel'.
- He died at age 32 after being crushed by a starting train; the most widely accepted view is that he committed suicide.
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