Ferenc Molnár

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Ferenc Molnár, February 16, 1941, photographer Carl van Vechten

Ferenc Molnár [ ˈfɛrɛnʦ ˈmolnaːr ] ( German also Franz Molnar ; January 12, 1878 , Budapest , Austria-Hungary  - April 1, 1952 , New York ; actually Ferenc Neumann ) was a Hungarian writer and journalist . Alongside István Örkény, he is considered one of the most important Hungarian dramatists of the 20th century. His best-known work is the play Liliom (1909).

Life

It was widely believed that Molnár's life was known to the general public and that the bohemians in the coffee shops were talking about and amusing. In fact, little was known about his childhood and youth, and Molnár refused to write his biography for decades. Whenever the author was asked for information about his early years, he would tell a funny anecdote or a sarcastic account of a common childhood incident. In the end he gave in to the pressure and wrote a "autobiography" in the foreword to one of his books in 1925:

I was born in Budapest in 1878; In 1896 I became a law student in Geneva; In 1896 I became a journalist in Budapest; In 1897 I wrote a short story; In 1900 I wrote a novella; In 1902 I became a playwright in my homeland; In 1908 I became a playwright abroad; In 1914 I became a war correspondent; In 1916 I became a playwright again; in 1918 my hair turned snow white; in 1925 I was to become a law student again in Geneva.

This list of biographical milestones sums up the meteoric rise of his artistic career.

The early years

Ferenc Molnár, the second son of Mór Neumann, a successful Jewish doctor, was born on January 12, 1878 in Budapest . (László, his parents' preferred son, died a year before Ferenc was born.) His mother, Jozefa Wallfisch, was a tender, taciturn, and often bedridden woman. She died in 1898. His father, a well-known internist, had little time for his son. During the day he was busy in his practice, the nights he spent in casinos and coffee houses. The budget was generous but grim. A mood of sickness spread in the dark rooms. It was not a friendly atmosphere for the lively and precocious Ferenc, who was incessantly urged to be quiet. "After my birth there is a five-year gap," wrote Molnár in his autobiographical summary.

The exaggerated fear of death and illness that Molnár exhibited all his life may be traced back to the early years.

The birth of his sister, Erzsébet, in 1881 meant no significant change in his life. Ferenc's excessive frustration was exacerbated by his Head of House . For a few years Neumann had his children home-schooled, as was customary in aristocratic families. His lifelong passionate love of literature began with learning to read at an early age.

In 1887 he entered the Calvinist high school. Among his teachers, he was particularly influenced by Ferenc Baráth, who urged him to learn foreign languages ​​by introducing the students to stories of foreign cultures. Molnár was so impressed that he started learning Finnish. At 14, he founded a - handwritten - magazine called Haladás ('progress'). Four copies of it were sold. A few months later he launched another publication, Életképek , which - this time in print - had a print run of 20 copies. When the newspaper business no longer seemed profitable to him, he made his first dramatic work. Kék barlang (“Blue Cave”), staged by himself, was performed in a friend's cellar. It's a piece about alchemy . Ferenc had stolen the most important props, blue bottles, from his father's laboratory. The flickering candles in the bottles bathed the stage in an eerie blue light. The performance must have been very controversial, as Molnár reports: "It ended in a commotion, so my next play lay idle for a decade until the Comedy Theater of Budapest decided to play it."

After finishing secondary education in 1895, Ferenc enrolled at the University of Budapest to study law. Since that time he has regularly visited the “Central Café”, initially to do his job. When he was spending more time there than in the lecture halls, his father sent him to Geneva to continue his legal studies. During the two semesters at the Swiss university he followed the advice of a family friend, Péter Heim, and began to write reports and reports and to send them to various newspapers in Hungary. The short novella Magdolna came into being . He went to Paris to improve his French and see some new pieces. The modern tabloid comedies of Bernstein, Bataille, Capus and others later greatly influenced the style of his dramas. To the horror of his family, Ferenc suddenly returned to Budapest. There he began to write professionally and changed his name from Neumann to Molnár. Since his articles from Geneva became well received, he gave up his legal studies and possible legal career in 1896 and became a journalist.

As a journalist, he reported on various topics for several newspapers, above all on court cases for Vészi's “Budapesti Napló”. During the negotiations he became familiar with the concerns of the better society and those of the lower class. His metaphorical, colorful style immediately caught the reader's attention.

At the same time, he also tried another profession. His first novel, Az éhes város ('The Hungry City'), was published in 1901. A bad book, a devastating indictment of money-hungry politicians and social climbers. Molnár portrayed the unconditional devotion of the capital to an ambitious man who comes back to his homeland from abroad as a multimillionaire. This relentless exposure of the diabolical effects of money - portrayed from the perspective of a young, idealistic newspaper journalist - attracted considerable attention and popularized Molnár's name. The following year he began to write for the theater - and eventually became world famous.

Most of the early pieces were by-products of his journalistic work. These dramas began with Impressionist sketches, random scenes, and chronicles written daily for the newspapers. That they could find space in one piece was unusual. Several of his newspaper articles consisted of overheard or even introduced dialogues. His first piece, A doctor úr (“The Lawyer”), an amusing farce in the style of French comedies, consisted of such fragments . His next comedy, Józsi , performed two years later, was published as a series of dialogues, the protagonist of which was a disreputable lad: a dramatic rendition of newspaper sketches about a spoiled, rich child. During this time Molnár published at least one volume (maybe two) with short stories, essays and dialogues. His fame grew quickly.

His charm and wit, but also his notorious love affairs, soon made him the favorite author of the bourgeoisie and the idol of the literary circles that frequented the coffee houses.

In 1906 he was promoted to the editorial board of Budapesti Napló. Editor-in-chief József Vészi was one of the most influential journalists in Hungary. Molnár admired him. Vészi loved inviting young intellectuals to his numerous parties because he had four highly educated daughters. It didn't take Molnár long to decide in favor of sixteen-year-old Margit, who had a challenging look. She was beautiful and talented and caused a stir as a writer and artist. Margit had many admirers. Molnár was in no hurry to recruit, and she was very patient - despite her impulsiveness and spoilage. It took Molnár six years to take this step.

The marriage of Molnár and Margit Vészi in 1906 was a great social event. Their daughter, Márta, was born the following year, but by that time the marriage had already been broken. Molnár was hardly the ideal husband, Margit not the ideal wife. The verbal battles between them increased in strength and, as is reported, the physical ones as well. The separation happened quickly.

Molnár's brooding over the marital shipwreck did not last. A few months after the separation he entered into a relationship with Irén Varsányi, Hungary's most important actress and wife of the wealthy factory owner Illés Szécsi. Molnár wrote Az ördög ("The Devil") for her , a play in which an actress is asked to leave her boring husband. The drama premiered in 1907 and brought Molnár international fame and membership in the exclusive “Petöfi Society”. After the duel with the jealous Szécsi, Molnár received a two-week prison sentence.

In 1906 Molnár wrote three books, including the youth novel A Pál-utcai Fiúk ( The Boys from Paul Street ), which realistically describes the social problems of the youth in Budapest using a youth gang. Shortly after his father's death in 1908, Molnár completed his best collection of short stories called Muzsika (“Music”).

Molnár's greatest international success was the “suburban legend” Liliom , a play that portrays the experiences of a Budapest carousel crier. Although the premiere in Budapest in 1909 fell through with audiences and critics, the German-language premiere in Vienna in 1912 ( Theater in der Josefstadt , translation: Alfred Polgar ) was followed by other productions at numerous German-language theaters. Liliom was in 1934 by Fritz Lang filmed and served 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein as a template for the successful Broadway - Musical Carousel .

After trying with Liliom to appease his angry wife by portraying her in the role of Juli, he went on to uncover and explain the intricacies of his affair with Irén Varsányi in Der Guardoffizier and Der Wolf . The liaison between the celebrated actress and her equally famous lover was the city gossip of Budapest. Whenever the lovers arranged a meeting, Varsanyi's young daughter suddenly fell seriously ill. The mother eventually returned to her family, overcome by guilt, and the affair ended abruptly. The abandoned playwright, not used to being rejected, fell into deep depression, began to drink and even attempted suicide. During his recovery, Molnár continued to write. He was slowly becoming a legend. His productivity was phenomenal. From 1910 to 1914 four volumes were published with collected essays and feature articles, as well as his translations of over 30 French plays - above all the comedies by Robert de Flers, Armand de Caillavet and Pierre de Marivaux .

Molnár experienced the first year of the war in the Austro-Hungarian army at the front. He was sent there by his friend Andor Miklós, the editor of Az Est ("The Evening"), a popular daily newspaper that he and Molnár founded in 1910. Molnár's lively war coverage once again demonstrated his remarkable journalistic talent. The reports from Galicia were published regularly in the "London Morning Post" and the " New York Times " and were published in 1916 in book form in two volumes under the title Egy haditudósitó ("War Diary of a Correspondent"). Molnár received the Officer's Cross of the Franz Joseph Order from the Emperor.

The performance of his new play, A fehér felhö (“The White Cloud”), which he had written in the army headquarters, earned him the Voinits Prize, Hungary's “Tony”, and membership in the Kisfaludy Society , an exclusive literary association.

Ferenc Molnár (1918)

In 1917 he wrote several pieces, including Farsang ("Carnival"), Úridivat ("Herrenmoden") and two volumes of humoresques. He also began to write his great novel Andor , which was published in 1918. Molnár also worked as a journalist during the revolution of 1918, but avoided getting drawn into politics.

Molnár's first drama after the war was written in 1920: A hattyú ("The Swan"), a satire about the royal family and the silliness of court life, which is disappearing. In the same year it conquered all major European theaters. The financial success of "The Swan" allowed Molnár to play with new dramatic techniques. In the following four years he wrote six dramas.

In 1922, the stormy love affair with Hungary's prima donna Sári Fedak, which lasted ten years, finally led to the highly acclaimed wedding. Again it was two stars who connected, and again one tried to outshine the other. The gossip-addicted columnists of the newspapers reported extensively on the violent verbal and other struggles in the Molnár house. The memory of his first marriage tormented him. While the public still reveled in Molnár's stormy life, the literary elite avoided him and began attacking their once-darling.

During the 1920s, Molnár was internationally recognized as one of the most talented contemporary playwrights, while in Hungary he had to pay tribute to his long and undisputed dominance on the stage. His coffeehouse society began to dwindle, and local critics no longer praised him unreservedly. In the 1920s and 1930s he wrote numerous tabloid pieces located somewhere between dream and reality , which often brought love relationships and everyday scenes to the stage in psychological or even cynical form and cemented his reputation as the leading playwright of his time through their elegant and cosmopolitan style.

After 1920 Molnár spent less and less time in Budapest. The resentment of the literary circles there about his breach of loyalty combined with criticism of his commercial successes, especially in the USA. Molnár became increasingly isolated. The disillusioned playwright pretended to ignore his critics, but his stay away from the capital dragged on. In the following two decades, Molnár became a citizen of the world.

The traveler

Between 1920 and 1930, Molnár had such an impressive income - over a million US dollars - that he could afford to maintain his so-called “five-room apartment” as well as the best hotel suites in Budapest, Vienna, Karlovy Vary, Venice and Nice .

When he married the actress Sári Fedák, he was already in a relationship with Lili Darvas , a sixteen-year-old actress from Budapest. Darvas played the leading role in Launzi so well that Molnár wrote “The Red Mill” and “The Glass Slipper” for her. The angry Fedák responded promptly: In order to get revenge, she asked Melchior Lengyel , a well-known Hungarian playwright, to write a play for her. Molnár responded to this public humiliation by divorcing Fedák in 1925. The dispute was continued in emigration: When Sári Fedák launched himself in America as Sári Fedák-Molnár, he issued corrections to the American press stating that the actress Sári Fedák-Molnár, who is currently visiting New York, was not his mother.

In 1925 Molnár went to Vienna. Only a few months later he married Lili Darvas, who became a member of Max Reinhardt's theater company . For a while he accompanied his wife on her tours to Berlin, Vienna and Salzburg. In 1926 Molnár presented them in Játék a kastélyban ("The Game in the Castle") and Riviera . The first piece temporarily restored Budapest's favor for the prodigal son. The play was performed on all major European stages and was performed on Broadway that same year.

Molnár was showered with honors. In 1927, after the Paris premiere of "The Swan", he was awarded the Legion of Honor Cross. After that he received a heroic reception in America. Upon his arrival in New York, theater directors and publishers stormed the couple with offers and invitations. They were even received at the White House by President Calvin Coolidge ; Molnár's 50th birthday was celebrated at great expense on Broadway. Before he left America again, Molnár accepted the offer to become an employee of the Vanity Fair .

After returning to Budapest in 1928, Molnár wrote the play Olympia and a volume of Sketche and oversaw the publication of his "Collected Works" in Hungary. This was followed by an English-language edition, published in New York in 1929.

While traveling through Europe, hanging out with kings and presidents, partying with stage stars and playing in the casinos on the Riviera, Molnár still found time between 1929 and 1932 to write an annual drama. The long separation phases caused by his wife's frequent travel activities impaired the relationship. Molnár wanted a reliable partner who was always there for him and who took care of his mental and physical needs. The Darvas could not fulfill this role. So they parted amicably, but stayed married and friends until his death.

In 1932 Molnár met Wanda Bartha, a young, educated (and divorced) Hungarian, who eventually became his secretary and companion and stayed with him until her death.

In the early 1930s of worry and unrest, the once-free spirit found solace in the Bible. The reading inspired him to write a religious drama, Csoda a hegyek között (“The miracle in the mountains”), which was about the life of Jesus, and to the novel Zenélö angyal (“Angels making music”). Both were published in 1933.

In the following year he treated in Az ismeretlen lány ("Girl from Trieste or: The Unknown Girl") and Nagy szerelem ("Great Love") again lighter, more cheerful topics. Molnár's ability to translate any personal experience into successful artistic work began to decline. He reflected on his frequent anxiety and depression as well as the painful longing for youth and past fame in some rather weak pieces: A zöld huszár ('The Green Hussar') and Öszi utazás ('Autumn Day '), which appeared in 1937 and 1939.

In 1937 Molnár attended the premiere of his latest play Delila . It was the last of the many exuberant premieres. In September he left the Hungarian capital for the last time. Although Wanda Bartha and Ferenc Molnár still lived in luxury - especially in Venice - the writer was convinced that Europe's days were numbered in the face of the growing threat from fascism and oppressive political and economic problems. Events had shaken his optimism. During those years he lived like a hermit .

The emigrant

In 1937 Molnár fled from the National Socialists to Switzerland , where he often met with Emmerich Kálmán in Geneva . When the Second World War broke out in 1939, Molnár was ready to leave Europe. On December 31, he left Geneva and embarked for New York. He arrived there on January 12, 1940. He was received by his third wife, actress Lili Darvas, Gilbert Miller and Hungarian friends. The apartment no. 835 in the Plaza Hotel was his last residence. In New York, despite severe depression , he wrote film scripts and plays. In 1949 his play Panoptikum was performed on Broadway .

Adjusting to the New World was no easy task for the aging writer who did not speak English. However, the hectic pace of New York and the new of its adopted country had a rejuvenating effect on him. Soon after his arrival he was back at his desk and finished the comedy A cukrászné (“A Delicate Story”), a reminiscence of his former easy antics. It was performed on Broadway in 1940. With the help of his devoted secretary Wanda, who had joined him in May, he began revising and rewriting his early texts, learned English and occasionally invited members of the emigre group. In a conversation with Friedrich Torberg about the difficulties in expressing oneself correctly in a foreign language and therefore preferring to write something linguistically correct than what was originally intended, he said, “It's very sad. I often had to change my worldview in the middle of a sentence. "

In 1941 Molnár visited Hollywood. He returned with a wealth of new ideas and contract promises. His new piece, A király szolgálólánya (“The King's Servant”), a pathetic religious tragedy, was a failure. But the temporary setbacks spurred the author on rather than discouraging him. At feverish speed - in less than two years - he completed a sentimental youth story , Kékszemü ("With Blue Eyes") and three plays: A császár ("The Emperor"), two variants of "Panoptikum" ("wax work") and ... Or Not To Be ("... or not to be"). The latter was never translated into Hungarian. Molnár wrote these texts in Hungarian, then translated them into clumsy English, which Wanda Bartha and other friends smoothed out for the final versions. After 1941, most of the last text versions came from Molnár himself.

In 1943 he suffered a severe heart attack that made him unable to work for a long time. The work-addicted playwright had to take almost a year off work. Molnár celebrated the end of the war with the publication of his new novel, Isten veled szivem (“Goodbye my darling”) and the English-language edition of The Captain of St. Margaret’s (“The Captain of St. Margaret’s”), a revised, extended version of an early one Short story The Steam Pillar (" The Steam Pillar "). During this time, the author gradually learned of the tragic fate of hundreds of his Jewish friends and colleagues, which led to increased depression in him. His personality changed. He became apathetic, sullen, a misanthrope . When he received news of the performance of “The Emperor” in Budapest in 1946, he took note of it indifferently. The worst was still ahead of him.

Wanda Bartha committed suicide the following year. Probably brooding over the loss of her family, particularly that of her favorite brother who was murdered by the Nazis, had destroyed her mental equilibrium; but perhaps the often cruel attitude of the changed Molnár contributed to her decision. Her suicide destroyed the writer. For weeks he was in a state of shock. He never really recovered from this loss. “Wanda died - my only light went out - on August 27th or 28th in New York ... Now there is no more hope in life! Wanda made the thought of my death, which had always filled me with horror, bearable for me. "

Determined to write a lasting homage in her memory, the writer began his most tragic work, Companion in Exile , a compilation of autobiographical notes depicting the friend's devotional sacrifice and the happy time they had spent together , recalled. The book also contained notes Wanda had made every day for years. The tape was recorded with polite reluctance. Soon after her death, Molnár bequeathed all of his manuscripts and bound binders, which contained the cut-out articles about him that Wanda had kept, to the New York City Library "in memory of my beloved friend and literary advisor." He also complained about his loss to his wife, the Darvas, one of the few people he occasionally wished to see.

Disciplining himself, Molnár sought solace in hard work, work for work's sake, not for recognition or success. "There is only one consolation in the world and that is work," he used to say. He firmly adhered to this thesis. This immersion in work was also an obvious effort to maintain the delusion that he was not going to die. While these late texts again unfolded their sparkling technique, they often sounded dull like fading echoes from a bygone era. But Molnár's plays were still played in many theaters, some were filmed for cinema or television, and new editions of his works were planned. He still seemed indifferent and rarely left his hotel room for the next few years. Visitors trying to cheer him up could meet the ex-foodie in a simple restaurant on 58th Street, where he used to eat. Even those Molnár allowed to sit with him only stayed a short time because of his bad mood or crying fits.

Although Molnár's health was not good, he wrote incessantly until he collapsed. On March 22nd, he had a seizure, and after an unsuccessful operation, he died on April 1st, 1952 in the Sinar Hospital of complications from stomach cancer.

“Immersed in the memory of Budapest's golden days, the Hungarian Molière, as he was often called, was looking for an equivalent to the city of his youth, but couldn't find one,” proclaims an obituary.

In the presence of a rabbi, he was buried in Lindenberg Cemetery (Linden Hill Methodist Cemetery, Queens County, New York) - next to Wanda Bartha. Because he feared that the drafting of the last will would hasten his death, Molnár died without a will. He left behind several manuscripts and unfinished texts as well as a lot of money. In sad contrast to his colorful life, the funeral was dreary. Only his wife and a few friends took part in it. SN Behrmann remarked: “He had the demeanor of a man who, despite the wars, persecutions and pressing personal drives, including the almost destructive dichotomy between the urge to suffer and the urge to inflict other suffering, had managed his life on a large scale and to run everything as he wished. "

On behalf of all the women Molnár had loved, Lili Darvas offered him the farewell greeting with a quote: "Liliom, sleep my boy, sleep!"

chronology

  • 1878 Born on January 12th in Budapest, the second son of the doctor Mor Neumann and Jozefa Wallfisch.
  • 1887–1895 attended grammar school in Budapest
  • 1895–1896 studied law in Budapest and Geneva; Trips to Paris; first journalistic activities; returns to Budapest; changes its name to Molnár.
  • 1898 death of the mother; Travel in Europe; Publication of the first collection of novels “Magdolna”.
  • 1902 premiere of his first play “A doktor úr” (The Defender) in Budapest.
  • 1906 Works for the newspaper "Budapest Napló"; marries the editor's daughter, Margit Veszi.
  • 1907 birth of their daughter Marta; Publication of “ The Boys from Paulstrasse ”; World premiere of “The Devil” in Budapest.
  • 1908 death of father; "The Devil" is played in several cities in Europe and in New York; Member of the Petöfi Society.
  • 1909 first performance and failure of “Liliom” in Budapest; long illness.
  • 1910 divorce from Margit Veszi; World premiere of “The Life Guard” in Budapest.
  • 1911 unsuccessful suicide attempt; Recovery in Austria. Member of the Kisfaludy Society for Literature.
  • 1912 premiere of “The Fairy Tale of the Wolf” in Budapest, 2 years later in New York. Publication of two volumes of short stories.
  • 1914–1915 war correspondent on the Galician front.
  • 1916 The piece “The White Cloud” receives the “Academy's Voinits Award”. Publication of the war diary and an anthology of essays; receives the Franz Joseph Order.
  • 1917 premiere of “Herrenmode” and “Fasching”.
  • 1920 premiere of "The Swan"
  • 1922 premiere of "Liliom" in New York.
  • 1922 marriage to the famous dancer Sári Fedák; First performance of “Heavenly and Earthly Love” in Budapest. Premiere “Men's Fashion” in New York.
  • 1924 divorce from Sari Fedak; World premiere of "The Glass Slipper".
  • 1926 marriage to the actress Lili Darvas; World premiere of “The Game in the Castle” in Budapest and premiere in New York.
  • 1927 Receives the award from the French Foreign Legion after the premiere of "The Swan" in Paris. First trip to the USA in December; President Coolidge receives Molnár at the White House.
  • 1928 complete edition in 20 volumes appears in Budapest; World premiere of "Olympia".
  • 1929 premiere of “Eins nach dem other”; English edition of a selection of his pieces "The plays of Ferenc Molnar" appears.
  • 1932 meeting Wanda Bartha; Work in Europe; World premiere of “Harmonie” and “Arthur” in Budapest; Resumption of "Liliom" and "Die Fee" in New York.
  • 1934–1936 travels in Europe with Wanda Bartha. 4 new pieces premiered in Budapest.
  • 1937 premiere of “Delilah”; leaves Budapest for good.
  • 1940 arrives in New York on January 12; moves to the Hotel Plaza, where he will stay until his death. World premiere of “Die Zuckerbäckerin” in New York.
  • 1943 heart attack.
  • 1945 Publication of "Farewell, My Heart" and "The Captain of St. Margaret's" (memoirs in 25 chapters) in New York.
  • 1947 became an American citizen; Wanda Bartha commits suicide.
  • 1948 turned down the invitation to Hungary to celebrate his 70th birthday.
  • 1950 Publication of “Companion in Exile” and “Stories for Two”.
  • 1952 dies of cancer on April 1st. Publication of the anthology "Romantic Comedies".
  • 1955 Sari Fedak dies in Budapest.
  • 1961 Margit Veszi commits suicide in Spain.
  • 1974 Lili Darvas dies in New York.

Works

By 1940 Molnár's works were published first in Hungarian and a little later in German translation. From 1940 his works first appeared in English. The year given for the stage works refers to the premiere (in Hungarian, German or English).

Stage works

  • A Doktor úr (Eng. The Defender , 1902)
  • Józsi (1904)
  • Az ördög (German: The Devil , 1907)
  • Liliom (1909)
  • A Testőr (German The Bodyguard , 1910)
  • A Farkas (German: The fairy tale of the wolf , 1912)
  • Úri divat (German: the lamb or men's fashion , 1916)
  • Farsang (German Carnival or Diamond , 1916)
  • A hattyú ( Eng . The Swan , 1920)
  • Színház (German theater , 1921) - consists of a prelude to King Lear , The Violet and Field Marshal
  • A vörös malom ( Eng . The red mill , 1923)
  • Az üvegcipő (German: The Glass Slipper , 1924)
  • Játék a kastélyban (German game in the castle , 1926)
  • Riviera (1926)
  • Olimpia (German Olympia , 1928)
  • Egy, kettő, három (German one, two, three , 1929)
  • A jó tündér ( Eng . The fairy , 1930)
  • Valaki (German Somebody , 1931), later reworked as Arthur (1949)
  • Harmónia (German Harmony , 1932)
  • Nagy szerelem (German great love , 1935)
  • Delilah (1937)
  • Panoptikum (1949)

Also numerous one-act plays and scenes.

prose

  • Az éhes város ( Eng . The Hungry City , story, 1901)
  • Muzsika (German music , stories, 1908)
  • Egy gazdátlan csónak története ( Eng.An abandoned boat , novel, 1909)
  • A Pál utcai fiúk (Eng. The boys from Paulstrasse , novel, 1910)
  • Egy haditudósitó naplója (German memoirs of a war correspondent , 1916)
  • Útitárs a száműzetésben - Jegyzetek egy önéletrajzhoz ( Eng . Companion in Exile - Notes for an Autobiography , 1950)

German-language editions of the novels and stories

  • 1909 An abandoned boat, novel
  • 1910 Die Jungens der Paulstrasse, a novel for young and old students
  • 1912 The Panpipe, 15 sketches
  • 1912 prisoners, novel in sequels
  • 1913 boys and girls, dialogues
  • 1913 Miss Jourfix, Roman
  • 1913 The confectioner's golden crown, short stories
  • 1916 war journeys of a Hungarian, war reports
  • 1917 The Mine, novel
  • 1922 The Thief, detective novel
  • 1923 The pineapple and other stories
  • 1927 The steam column, novella
  • 1933 The angel making music, novel of a young love
  • 1937 The Green Hussar, novel
  • 1950 Farewell, my heart, novel
  • 1953 Companion in exile, notes for an autobiography
  • 1972 The invention of the milk coffee, short stories
  • Untitled. An autumn trip, manuscript for a novel
  • 1981 Die Dampfsäule, stories (GDR, translated by Vera Thies)
  • 1985 The green fly, short stories (see Die Dampfsäule)

Theater plays in German translation

  • 1908 The Devil, a game in three acts
  • 1910 Mr. Defender , Grotesque in three acts
  • 1911 The Life Guard , comedy in three acts
  • 1912 Liliom , suburban legend in seven pictures and a scenic prologue
  • 1912 The fairy tale of the wolf, a game in four pictures
  • 1913 Der Gardeoffizier ( Der Leibgardist ), comedy in three acts
  • 1917 Carnival , a game in three acts
  • 1917 men's fashion , comedy in three acts
  • 1921 The Swan , a game in three acts
  • 1921 The violet
  • 1922 theater , contains two one-act plays: Prelude to King Lear and Field Marshal
  • 1922 Heavenly and earthly love
  • 1925 The red mill , a game in eighteen pictures
  • 1926 The glass slipper , comedy in three acts
  • 1926 Riviera , play in two acts
  • 1926 Game in the Castle , anecdote in three acts
  • 1928 Still life , play in one act
  • 1929 One, two, three , caricature in one act
  • 1929 Souper , game in one act
  • 1930 Olympia , an Austro-Hungarian social comedy in three acts
  • 1931 Die Fee , comedy in three acts and an epilogue (1957 adapted for television by Georg Kreisler ).
  • 1931 Somebody , comedy in three acts
  • 1935 Great love , comedy in three acts (six pictures)
  • 1935 The Unknown Girl , drama
  • 1936 Die Jungens von der Paulstrasse , play in three acts, based on the novel Die Junge von der Paulstrasse
  • 1937 Delila , comedy in three acts
  • 1942 Panoptikum , a play in a prelude and two acts
  • 1946 Arthur , three acts
  • Untitled Harmonie , a family idyll with choir singing in three acts
  • no year wedding , play in one act
  • n.d. stories for two
  • Untitled The confectioner , comedy in five pictures

Impact history

Many of Molnár's plays have been revised and filmed in the USA and Europe. A selection:

In communist Hungary, the performance of Molnár's works was banned. However, since 1989 it has experienced a renaissance there. Many Hungarian theaters sometimes have several of his plays on their repertoire.

literature

  • Georg Kövary : The playwright Franz Molnár . Wagner, Innsbruck 1984, ISBN 3-7030-0141-0 .
  • István Várkonyi: Ferenc Molnár and the Austro-Hungarian "Fin de siècle" . Lang, New York 1992, ISBN 0-8204-1664-9 .
  • Elizabeth Molnár Rajec: Ferenc Molnár . Böhlau, Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-205-05029-0 . (2-volume bibliography)
  • Alfred Polgar : Franz Molnár. In: Marcel Reich-Ranicki (Hrsg.), Ulrich Weinzierl (Hrsg.), Alfred Polgar: Kleine Schriften. Volume IV. Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 1984, ISBN 3-498-05248-9 .
  • Friedrich Torberg : Everything (or almost everything) about Franz Molnár. In: Aunt Jolesch or the fall of the West in anecdotes. Albert Langen, Georg Müller Verlag, Munich / Vienna 1975, ISBN 3-7844-1559-8 .

Web links

Commons : Ferenc Molnár  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tünde Kárpáti: Molnár Ferenc drámáinak magyarországi fogadtatás– történetéből (1902-2002).
  2. ↑ All sorts of things. Foreign countries. The divorce proceedings between Franz Molnar and Sari Fedak. In: Baden newspaper. September 23, 1925.
  3. ^ Friedrich Torberg: The aunt Jolesch. dtv, p. 171.
  4. ^ Friedrich Torberg: The aunt Jolesch. dtv, p. 173.
  5. ↑ The Bodyguard: Monday, May 15, 1911; Comedy in 3 acts , in the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf
personal data
SURNAME Molnár, Ferenc
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Molnar, Franz; Neumann, Ferenc
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian writer and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH January 12, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Budapest
DATE OF DEATH April 1, 1952
Place of death New York , United States