Imre Kertész is a Hungarian author and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded “for work that highlights the fragile experience of the individual in the face of the brutal arbitrariness of history.”
He was the first Hungarian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. His works primarily explore themes related to the Holocaust (as a survivor of Nazi concentration and death camps), dictatorship, and the quest for personal freedom. .
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- Full name: Imre Kertész
- Stage name: Imre Kertész
- Date of birth: November 9, 1929
- Date of death: March 31, 2016
- Age: 86 years old
- Place of birth: Budapest, Hungary
- Nationality: Hungarian
- Occupation: Hungarian author
- Height: Unknown
- Parents: Aranka Jakab and László Kertész
- Siblings: Unknown
- Spouse: Magda Kertész (m. 1996–2016), Albina Vas (m. ?–1995)
- Children: Unknown
- Relationship: Married
- Net worth: 1 million USD
Early life and education
Imre Kertész was born on November 9, 1929 in Budapest, Hungary, into a middle-class Jewish family. His parents, Aranka Jakab and László Kertész, separated when he was about 5 years old.
Although it is unclear whether Kertész has any siblings, no details are available about them. He attended a boarding school and in 1940 began secondary school at Madach Imre High School, where he was placed in a special class for Jewish students.
In 1944, Kertész was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, and then to Buchenwald, where he survived the horrors of the Holocaust. After liberation in 1945, he returned to Hungary, where he completed his A-levels in 1948. Kertész was ethnically Hungarian and practiced Judaism throughout his life.
Career
Imre Kertész’s early career was shaped by the challenges he faced as a Holocaust survivor and the political climate in Hungary. After surviving Auschwitz and Buchenwald, he returned to Hungary, where he worked as a reporter for the newspaper Világosság.
However, due to the newspaper’s conversion to communism, he was fired in 1951. He worked briefly in a factory and then in the press department of the Ministry of Heavy Industry before moving to free newspaper.
In the 1950s, Kertész began translating the works of authors such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Elias Canetti into Hungarian. His most famous work, graceless (Sorstalansag), written between 1969 and 1973.
The novel, which recounts the experiences of 15-year-old György Köves in a concentration camp, was initially rejected by the Hungarian communist regime but was eventually published in 1975. While some critics consider it autobiographical , Kertész denies a strong biographical connection.
graceless has become an important text in Hungarian literature, even appearing in high school curricula. In 2005, a film adaptation of the novel written by Kertész was released.
Although the film has the same title, some critics noted that it is more autobiographical than the novel. Next gracelessKertész wrote failure (1988) et Kaddish for the fetus (1990), completing his Holocaust trilogy.
Despite the impact of his works, Kertész was not highly appreciated in Hungary and eventually moved to Germany, where he received more support from publishers, critics and readers.
In Germany, he continued his work as a translator, focusing on German writers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Friedrich Dürrenmatt and Arthur Schnitzler, while also producing his own novels. However, it was not until the late 1980s that he published another novel.
In his later years, Kertész struggled with various health problems, including Parkinson’s disease and recurring depression, which he also explored in his writing. His 2003 novel Liquidation revolves around a character who commits suicide after battling depression.
Despite these personal challenges, Kertész remained active in writing and continued to receive recognition for her literary contributions, especially after moving to Germany.
Kertész’s work, which includes explorations of the Holocaust and personal freedom, earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2002. As the first Hungarian to win this prestigious honor, Kertész’s legacy as as a writer who advocates for the individual against historical forces remains significant in global literature.
Social Media
Imre Kertész does not have any active social media accounts.
Personal life
Imre Kertész was married twice in her life. His first wife, Albina Vas, whom he married in 1960, died in 1995 of cancer. The couple remained childless because Albina could not have children.
In 1996, Kertész married Magda Sass, who was often his translator and devoted partner in his later years. The couple moved to Berlin in 2003, where they remained married until Kertész’s death in 2016. During her lifetime, Kertész had no children.
Net worth
Imre Kertész, the Hungarian Nobel Prize-winning author, had an estimated net worth of $1 million at the time of his death in 2016.
Throughout his life, his financial situation remained modest. He relied mainly on income from translation and journalism before becoming widely recognized for his literary works, especially graceless.
