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 plus pay rent for the tiny flat they where living in. Thus the children where 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. Attila József File links The following pages link to this file: Attila József Categories: Free use images ... Attila József File links The following pages link to this file: Attila József Categories: Free use images ... Download high resolution version (700x1029, 100 KB)Attila József - drawing by Hungarian artist István Dési Huber File links The following pages link to this file: Attila József ... Download high resolution version (700x1029, 100 KB)Attila József - drawing by Hungarian artist István Dési Huber File links The following pages link to this file: Attila József ... April 11 is the 101st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (102nd in leap years). ... 1905 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... December 3 is the 337th (in leap years the 338th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

His mother died in 1919 of illness, aged only 43. After this, he was taken care 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 for membership at the University of Szeged - his dream was to become a secondary school teacher -, but was soon turned out because of a provocative poem he wrote. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary. ...

From this point onwards, he tried to support himself from the little money he earnt by publishing his poems. He started showing signs of skizofrenia, 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 where 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/)