Cécile Tormay

Born in Budapest in either 1875 or 1876, Cécile Tormay became one of the best-known Hungarian women writers of her era. She wrote novels, essays, and memoirs, and by the interwar years she had become an influential public figure in Hungary as well as a prominent editor and cultural organizer.

She is especially remembered for Bujdosó könyv (An Outlaw's Diary or The Hiding Book), her account of the political upheavals that followed World War I in Hungary. The book brought her wide attention and was translated for foreign readers, helping build her reputation beyond Hungary.

Tormay's place in literary history is debated. Scholars describe her as a significant interwar author, but they also note her strong involvement in conservative nationalist politics and the antisemitism in her public writing. Because of that, she is often discussed today both as an important literary figure and as a controversial political one.