Sándor Szathmári
Sándor Szathmári was a Hungarian engineer, writer, and translator born on June 19, 1897, in Gyula, Hungary. He developed a keen interest in natural and social sciences, languages, and notably, Esperanto, which he began to study in 1912. After World War I, Szathmári pursued engineering at the University of Budapest and worked in a state-owned factory. In his spare time, he became a prominent figure in the Budapest School of poetry during the late 1920s and early 1930s, contributing to various literary publications, especially in Esperanto.
His most notable work is the novel "Kazohinia," published in 1957, which presents a futuristic narrative exploring contrasting societies on a fictional island. The book reflects themes of utopia and societal critique, drawing comparisons to literary figures like Thomas More and Jonathan Swift. "Kazohinia" gained popularity in Hungary, despite facing censorship upon its release, and was initially intended for publication in Esperanto. Szathmári continued to write throughout his life, producing various literary works and promoting the use of Esperanto until his death on September 27, 1974. His contributions to literature and the Esperanto movement remain significant, highlighting the importance of communication across diverse cultures.
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Sándor Szathmári
Writer
- Born: June 19, 1897
- Birthplace: Gyula, Hungary
- Died: September 27, 1974
Biography
Sándor Szathmári (sometimes spelled Szatmary) was born in June 19, 1897, in the village of Gyula, Hungary. He was interested in natural and social sciences and languages as a young man. In 1912, he acquired a lifelong interest in Esperanto, a neutral, international language whose rules and vocabulary were first proposed in 1887 by Polish philologist Lukwik Lazarz Zamenhof as a means of avoiding conflicts between people of different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.
Szathmári studied engineering at the University of Budapest after World War I and was employed as a mechanical engineer in a large state-owned factory. In his free time, he began to write stories and poems both in Hungarian and Esperanto, becoming a leading member of the Budapest School of poetry in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. He contributed often to the Esperanto magazine Literatura Mondo, and he was manager of the Hungarian Esperanto Association from 1937 to 1942.
Between 1930 and 1934, Szathmári worked on In Vain, a never-published trilogy about the doomed Hungarian society of the time. He put it aside, however, in favor of a novel dealing with the same broad subject. From 1935 to 1939, he wrote and rewrote the work for which he is best remembered, his only novel, Kazohinia, (1957; Kazohinia, 1975). A futuristic novel that combines the utopian vision of Thomas More, the satire of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, and elements of science fiction similar to Huxley’s Brave New World, Kazohinia takes up where Swift left off in detailing the travels of a modern Gulliver. A British ship’s surgeon ventures to an unknown island where one group of inhabitants, the Hins, live without emotions, desires, creative arts, politics, or anything else that might upset their ordered existence. The superhuman Hins live peacefully with the assistance of such technologically advanced laborsaving devices as moving pavements, self-opening doors, three-dimensional films, answering machines, and video telephones. Life is perfect, but dull, so the doctor asks to visit the island’s other natives, the Behins. Polar opposites of the Hins, the subhuman Behins seethe with self-destructive obsessions. An outsider in either of the island’s societies, the doctor eventually flees both.
The publication of Kazohinia was delayed by the outbreak of World War II, and the book was severely censored when it was eventually published in 1957. It was a best-seller in Hungary, and was considered for Hungary’s leading literary award, the Baumgarten Prize. Originally intended for publication in Esperanto, it did not appear in that language until 1958, after several Hungarian and English editions.
Szathmári continued to write to the end of his life, producing novellas, short stories, and articles on literary themes and the international language movement. He was widely published during the 1950’s and 1960’s in such periodicals as Belarto, Monda Kulturo, La Nica Literarura Revuo, Hungara Vivo, and many other Esperanto publications. His short-story collection, Ma inmondo: Kaj aliaj noveloj, was published in 1964. Other collections of Szathmári’s work, Kain kaj Abel and Perfekta civitano, were published posthumously, and he has been represented in such Esperanto anthologies as 33 rakontoj, la Novelarto (1964) and Trezoro (1989). Szathmári died on September 27, 1974, after devoting most of his life to the promotion of Esperanto, a language that, more than a century after its creation, seems a particularly valid concept for resolving communication difficulties in contemporary society’s increasingly rancorous international relations.