author
gróf József Gvadányi
1725–1801
An 18th-century Hungarian nobleman, soldier, and writer, he is best remembered for lively satirical poems that brought everyday speech and social observation into literature. His best-known work follows a village notary on a comic journey, mixing humor with a sharp eye for Hungarian life.
1 Audiobook
Gróf Gvadányi József és Fazekas Mihály (Magyar remekirók 6. kötet)
by gróf József Gvadányi, Mihály Fazekas
About the author
Born in 1725 in Rudabánya, József Gvadányi came from a noble family of Italian origin that had settled in Hungary. He studied with the Jesuits and then chose a military career, serving in the Habsburg army before later turning more fully toward writing.
He became known as a poet and satirist whose work stood out for its humor, storytelling energy, and closeness to spoken Hungarian. Readers especially remember Egy falusi nótáriusnak budai utazása (usually translated as The Journey to Buda of a Village Notary), a comic work that helped make him one of the notable popular writers of late 18th-century Hungarian literature.
Gvadányi died in 1801 in Szakolca (today Skalica, Slovakia). His writing has lasted because it preserves not just literary style, but also the tone, manners, and social tensions of his age in a vivid and entertaining way.