author
Károly Török
1843–1875
Rising from deep poverty to literary life in Budapest, this Hungarian poet and folklore collector left a small but memorable body of work before dying young. His writing is tied closely to folk tradition and to the lived experience of 19th-century rural Hungary.
1 Audiobook
Csongrádmegyei gyüjtés; Magyar népköltési gyüjtemény 2. kötet
by Károly Török
About the author
Born in Hódmezővásárhely in 1843, Károly Török was known as a clerk, poet, and collector of folklore. Reference sources agree that his early life was marked by poverty, and that he spent part of his youth working as a swineherd before continuing his education relatively late.
He later studied law in Pest and, according to Hungarian biographical sources, worked as a tutor for Pál Gyulai's children. With support from Arany László, he also held a modest position at the Hungarian Land Credit Institute. His reputation today rests largely on his literary work and on collections connected with folk culture, including material from Csongrád County.
Török died in his hometown in 1875, still only in his early thirties. Although his life was short, the outline that survives is striking: a self-made writer who came from hardship, entered Hungary's literary world, and helped preserve local tradition in print.