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Attila József (April 11, 1905 - December 3, 1937) was one of the most outstanding Hungarian poets in the 20th century. The son of Áron József, a half-Romanian soap factory worker and Hungarian peasant girl Borbála Pőcze, he was born in the poor Ferencváros neighbourhood of Budapest. He had two elder sisters: Eta and Jolán. His father abandoned the family when he was just three years old. They lived in extreme poverty: the mother could barely support the three children and pay rent for the tiny flat they were living in. Thus the children were cared for by the National Child Protection League and foster parents in the country town of Öcsöd, where he worked on a farm. It was typical of the conditions there that his foster father said "There is no such name as 'Attila'", and therefore called him 'Pista'. The conditions were so bad that he escaped back to his mother in Budapest.
His mother died in 1919, aged only 43. After this, he was looked after by Ödön Makai, his brother-in-law, who was relatively wealthy and could pay for his education in a good secondary school. Later he applied to the University of Szeged - his dream was to become a secondary school teacher - but he was soon turned out because of a provocative poem he had written.
From this point on, he tried to support himself from the little money he earned by publishing his poems. He started showing signs of schizophrenia, and was treated by psychiatrists. He never married and only had a small number of affairs, but frequently fell in love with the women who were treating him.
He commited suicide on 3 December 1937, aged 32, at Balatonszárszó, where he was staying at the house of his sister and brother-in-law.
External links
- Meeting Attila József (http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/hellyer/attila.html)
- General Introduction (http://www.iearn.hu/balkans/bpeople/jozsefa.htm)
- Poetry (http://www.mek.iif.hu/porta/szint/human/szepirod/magyar/jozsefa/osszes/html/)