Gábor Deveseri, 1917–1971
Born in Budapest, Devecseri’s first volume, written jointly with Gábor Karinthy, appeared when he was 15. After completing his secondary education in 1934, he worked in an office for a year before enrolling at the Péter Pázmány University in Budapest, studying Greek and Latin. At this time he was publishing poetry in the influential journal Nyugati (West). He graduated in 1939 and received a doctorate in 1941. He then worked as a librarian until 1945. After the war, he taught literature in the Greek faculty of his old university and art history at the College of Drama. From 1948 to 1954, he also taught literature at the Officers’ Academy of the Hungarian People’s Army, with the rank of major. Devecseri was general secretary of the Writers’ Union from 1949 to 1951. He received the prestigious Kossuth Prize in 1953. On October 27, 1956, he issued a statement of support for the revolution, criticizing the government and blaming it for the protracted fighting. On October 30, he took part in the meeting of the Budapest 11th District Workers’ Council, where he read out one of his poems. His works also featured in radio literary programmes during the revolution. On November 2, he took part in the general assembly of the Writers’ Union, where he dissociated himself from the HSWP, which had been formed on the previous day. After 1956, he lived by his writings. He died in Budapest in 1971.
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