author
György Gaal
1783–1855
A pioneer of Hungarian folk-tale collecting, he helped bring Magyar storytelling to a wider European audience through his writing, translation, and literary work in Vienna. His life joined scholarship with a deep interest in the stories people passed along by word of mouth.
3 Audiobooks
Gaal György magyar népmese-gyűjteménye (3. kötet)
by György Gaal
Gaal György magyar népmese-gyűjteménye (2. kötet)
by György Gaal
Gaal György magyar népmese-gyűjteménye (1. kötet)
by György Gaal
About the author
Born in Pressburg, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary, in 1783, he studied in Pest and Vienna and later entered the service of the Esterházy family. He became a librarian in Vienna and was also active as a writer and translator, writing largely in German while helping introduce Hungarian literature and culture to readers beyond Hungary.
He is best remembered as an early pioneer of Hungarian folk-tale collection. Working from stories he gathered from Hungarian speakers around him, he preserved material that would become important to the history of folklore and literary culture.
He died in Vienna in 1855. Today he is remembered not only for his own writing, but also for helping carry Hungarian oral tradition into print at an early and influential moment.