János NyÃri (November 9, 1932 â€" October 23, 2002)[1] was a theatre
director, journalist and writer. He wrote several highly acclaimed
plays and novels, including Battlefields and Playgrounds (Macmillan,
London, 1990), recognized by The Observer as the most important novel
written by a survivor of the Holocaust.[2]János NyÃri was born in
Budapest in 1932. His parents were Tibor NyÃri and Julia Spitz,
respected Hungarian Jewish writers.[1] His father's most famous work
was the novel Katona, Karácsony and the screenplay of the Hungarian
film DÃszmagyar ("Gala Suit") (Budapest, 1949).[3] NyÃri's parents
divorced when he was a small boy, and János went to live on his
grandparents' vineyard in rural Tokaj. At the beginning of World War
II, he went into hiding from the Nazis and Hungarian anti-Semites,
with his mother and his older brother, András NyÃri. While most of
his family and classmates were murdered in the Auschwitz and
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camps, Nyiri survived and was liberated
by the Red Army in May 1945. After his military service and officer
training as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Hungarian Army, NyÃri completed
his studies at the SzÃnház- és Filmművészeti FÅ'iskola, the
Academy of Cinema and Dramatic Art in Budapest in 1954, and rose to
fame as a theatre director, in Kecskemét, Szeged, and
Budapest.[2]Shortly after the failed Hungarian Uprising against Soviet
occupation in 1956, NyÃri decided to escape to Vienna, and later to
Paris, instead of staying in Hungary and facing a probable death
sentence, which was the fate of many of his fellow revolutionaries.
NyÃri was forbidden to return to Hungary until the amnesty of 1973,
when he was commissioned by the New Statesman to return to his native
country and write an article, which was published under the title A
Chilly Spring in Budapest.[n 1]
director, journalist and writer. He wrote several highly acclaimed
plays and novels, including Battlefields and Playgrounds (Macmillan,
London, 1990), recognized by The Observer as the most important novel
written by a survivor of the Holocaust.[2]János NyÃri was born in
Budapest in 1932. His parents were Tibor NyÃri and Julia Spitz,
respected Hungarian Jewish writers.[1] His father's most famous work
was the novel Katona, Karácsony and the screenplay of the Hungarian
film DÃszmagyar ("Gala Suit") (Budapest, 1949).[3] NyÃri's parents
divorced when he was a small boy, and János went to live on his
grandparents' vineyard in rural Tokaj. At the beginning of World War
II, he went into hiding from the Nazis and Hungarian anti-Semites,
with his mother and his older brother, András NyÃri. While most of
his family and classmates were murdered in the Auschwitz and
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camps, Nyiri survived and was liberated
by the Red Army in May 1945. After his military service and officer
training as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Hungarian Army, NyÃri completed
his studies at the SzÃnház- és Filmművészeti FÅ'iskola, the
Academy of Cinema and Dramatic Art in Budapest in 1954, and rose to
fame as a theatre director, in Kecskemét, Szeged, and
Budapest.[2]Shortly after the failed Hungarian Uprising against Soviet
occupation in 1956, NyÃri decided to escape to Vienna, and later to
Paris, instead of staying in Hungary and facing a probable death
sentence, which was the fate of many of his fellow revolutionaries.
NyÃri was forbidden to return to Hungary until the amnesty of 1973,
when he was commissioned by the New Statesman to return to his native
country and write an article, which was published under the title A
Chilly Spring in Budapest.[n 1]
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