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József Lengyel

LENGYEL, JÓZSEF (1896–1975), Hungarian author and poet, born in Marcali. Lengyel's poetic talents were first discovered in the modernist periodical, A Tett ("The Deed"). In 1918 he was one of the founders of the Hungarian Communist Party, and was arrested by the revolutionary authorities of the Károlyi regime before the Bolshevik revolution led by Bela *Kun. After its failure, he fled to Vienna, and thence to Berlin, finally settling in Moscow, where he worked in the circle of Hungarian émigré writers. There he was arrested in 1938 and sent to a Soviet concentration camp. After World War II, Lengyel was exiled to Siberia, but was released and rehabilitated in 1955, when he returned to Hungary. His literary work after his imprisonment describes with profound psychological analysis the horrifying world of those condemned to slow death. His works include Visegrádi utca ("Visegrádi Street," 19301, 19572), Prenn Ferenc hányatott élete… ("The Life and Wanderings of Franz Prenn," 1958), and Elévült tartozás ("Debt Overdue," 1964).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Magyar Irodalmi Lexikon, 2 (1965), S.V.


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.