"I was the writer of this town..." – Nyíregyháza

"I was born in 1878, in the late autumn. In Nyíregyháza, in a long, echoing, small-windowed house with a thatched roof, which nowadays no longer exists on Nagykálló Street," reads his autobiography. That "late autumn" was, to be precise, October 21, 1878. He was born into a noble family, as indicated by the noble prefix "Szécsénykovácsi." His father and paternal grandfather were both lawyers, while his mother was a maid. His parents only married after the birth of their tenth child, and Krúdy, their firstborn, was registered as an illegitimate child.
After his school years in Szatmár and Podolin, he continued his studies in Nyíregyháza at the Evangelical Grammar School. It was here that his teacher, Pál Porubszky, noticed his literary talent and guided him. Krúdy worked as a contracted journalist from 1892, and he was only 15 when his first short story was published. By the time he graduated, he had published more than 200 works. He produced student newspapers, organized a press bureau in Nyíregyháza, and at 17, his report on the Tuzsér hypnosis tragedy was reprinted in newspapers across Europe. He moved to the capital in 1896 and lived there until his death. However, his birthplace and the Nyírség region always remained dear to him:"Nyírség is the most beautiful landscape in Hungary. To write about it requires a tenderness akin to describing a dead bride. Or an aged chivalric life. Old, beautiful adventures, romantic feats, which may come to the mind of a sluggish, contemplative village nobleman as he ponders the present and the past in his apiary," he wrote in his 1916 piece Nyírség published in Magyar Tükör. The city has always honored Krúdy. Public statues, a secondary school, a street, In Sóstó the Vígadó (former hotel) and even the former cinema (which showed Zoltán Huszárik's film Szindbád in 1971) bear his name. In 2011, the city posthumously awarded him the honorary citizenship title.

School Years in Podolin

Rewinding a little in time, we must mention his student years in Podolin. "For strict upbringing, my father entrusted me first to the Jesuit fathers in Szatmár, then to the Piarist monks in Podolin (in Szepes County), and I never forgot those years, just as most people fondly remember their childhood more than their later years," – he wrote. Between 1888 and 1891, he attended the lower classes of the Piarist grammar school in Podolin, living at 92 Fő Square with a bourgeois family. As mentioned, his experiences in Szepes had a great impact on him, later inspiring novels and stories. In 1969, a bilingual commemorative plaque was erected on the wall of his former school.

A Flow of Miraculous Abundance – Budapest

"I lived in the 8th district of Pest, surrounded by the hopeful, undaunted atmosphere typical of aspiring writers," he recalled. At just 18, Krúdy moved to the capital in the year of the Hungarian Millennium, a time of great national fervor, especially in Budapest. Journalist Géza Féja described Krúdy's early years in the capital as follows:"...thus began the miraculous torrent of creativity; by 1905, nearly fifty of his stories were published. The young Krúdy poured out everything: memories from his childhood and adolescence, newly absorbed Budapest experiences, and a wealth of literary stimuli. Yet he also waged an unrelenting struggle to assimilate these influences." In his piece *Krúdy, the Genius*, Féja discusses how writers like Kálmán Mikszáth, Sándor Bródy, and Lajos Tolnai shaped Krúdy's unique style, grotesque characters, tales of misspent lives, and supposed gentry nostalgia.
In his early years, Krúdy barely earned a living. Though he had connections, true friends were rare, if any. He married for the first time in 1899, and had three children from this marriage. Géza Hegedűs summarized Krúdy's life in Budapest: "In his youth, when he arrived in Budapest, he lived in misery but soon found success. For several decades, he earned relatively well (and worked hard for it), yet he was never financially stable and had poor money management skills. He had two families, remained unfaithful to both, but was generous to them—and to women, friends, and drinking companions—as long as he could afford it." His breakthrough came with *The Red Stagecoach* and the *Szindbád* stories in 1913. In 1916, he received the Ferenc Joseph Prize from the city of Budapest. In 1917, the newspaper *Magyarország* serialized his novel *Autumn Travels on the Red Stagecoach*.

Island Strolls – Margaret Island

In 1918, Krúdy moved to Margaret Island and lived for twelve years in the one-story, green-shuttered palace of Archduke Joseph. In 1919, his daughter Zsuzsa was born from his second marriage; she later became an active guardian of her father’s legacy. Krúdy supported the Hungarian Soviet Republic, and after the counterrevolution, he fell out of favor, slipping into poverty and having difficulty finding publishers. In 1921, he edited the Margaret Island bathing newspaper *Island Strolls*, while continuing to write and publish wherever he could. In 1925, Athenaeum published a ten-volume collection of his works, reissued in 1928 for his 50th birthday. In 1929, he became seriously ill and could not work for months. In 1930, he received the Baumgarten Prize, but despite the large monetary award, his financial troubles persisted. The Metropolitan Public Works Council canceled his lease due to arrears, and he was evicted from Margaret Island, moving with his family to Óbuda.
"Fate tossed me around from one district to another. I always wanted to live far out in Buda, but only made it to Margaret Island, to an old house, where I spent long, contemplative autumns and silent winters."

The Shipwrecked Szindbád in Óbuda

„Thus Szindbád moved to Óbuda, like a ruined rower who dares not seek adventure again along the great Danube, hoping to discover new things like a modern-day Columbus.” – he wrote in his 1931 story *The Return of the Oarsman (In the City of Antiquities)*. He and his family lived in dire conditions in a makeshift apartment at what was then Templom Street 15 (now Korona Square 1). Krúdy spent the last three years of his life there, and, as mentioned, struggled with financial hardship. Bankruptcy proceedings were initiated, and he received an eviction notice due to unpaid rent; shortly before his death, even the electricity in the apartment was cut off. His last night was spent at the nearby Kéhli Tavern on Mókus Street. He passed away on May 12, 1933. The Óbuda house, in which he lived under conditions unworthy of his literary greatness, is one of the few buildings to have survived the massive demolitions and constructions in the area. Today, it houses the Hungarian Museum of Trade and Tourism, which features a permanent exhibition commemorating Gyula Krúdy, his residences, and the hospitality venues he frequented and wrote about.

KF

translated by László Gönczi

Sources:

• Gyula Krúdy – Ed. Miklós Tóth-Páll
• In Memory of Gyula Krúdy – emlekjelek.hu
• Biography and works  – Gyula Krúdy (Digital) Foundation, krudy.hu
• Gyula Krúdy – Hungarian Museum of Trade and Tourism
• "Who is this Gyula Krúdy? I don't care who he was; next week this house is going to hell" – Tibor Pethő, Magyar Hang