László Merényi

Born in Pomáz in 1837, László Merényi studied law in Pest for a short time before turning to folklore work. He spent several years gathering dialect words and folk tales on behalf of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, building a body of material that later fed into his published collections.

He is best known as a collector and reteller of Hungarian folk narratives. Among the works associated with him are Eredeti népmesék, Dunamelléki eredeti népmesék, and Sajóvölgyi eredeti népmesék, books that helped bring regional storytelling traditions into print for a wider reading public.

Modern reference works note that his collections reflect the practices of his time, including some literary shaping by the collector, but they are still valued as important sources for Hungarian folk culture. He died in Budapest in 1907.