The poetry of

Miklós Radnóti
First years
• Miklós Radnóti born as Miklós
Glatter; on the 5th of May 1909, in
Austro-Hungarian era Budapest.  At
birth, his twin brother was born
dead, and his mother died soon
after childbirth. He spent most of his
childhood years with his aunt's
family whose husband Dezső Grosz
was one of the owners of the textile
company in which his father worked
until his death in 1921.
 Childhood
• Radnóti
attended primary and secondary school in
his place of birth and continued his
education at the high school for textile
industry in Liberec from 1927–28 on his
uncle's advice. Then he worked
as commercial correspondent in the familiar
textile business company until 1930.
Ultimately, Radnóti was able to prevail with
desire for another education and began
studying philosophy, Hungarian and French
language at the University of Szeged.
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 Later years
• In 1934, he finished his studies with the
philosophical doctoral thesis The artistic development
of Margit Kaffka. After graduation, he changed his name
to Radnóti, after the birthplace Radnovce (Hungarian:
Radnót) of his paternal grandfather. In August 1935, he
married his long-standing love Fanny (1912-2014),
daughter of the owner of the respected Gyarmati printing
house. The very happy marriage was unfortunately
childless until his deportation. In the school year of 1935-36
he gained first professional experiences as high school
teacher at the Zsigmond Kemény Gymnasium in Budapest. 
• In September 1940, he was conscripted to a Jewish labor
battalion of the Hungarian Army until December of that
year, then from July 1942 to April 1943 for the second time.
On 2 May 1943, he converted together with his wife
from Judaism to Roman Catholic faith. In May 1944,
Radnóti's third military service started and his battalion was
deported to Borin Serbia. After 1943, Hungarian-Jewish
forced laborers were imprisoned nearby Bor's copper mines
which covered 50 percent of the copper requirement of the
German war industry.
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 • On 17 September 1944, Radnóti was forced to
leave the camp in a column of about 3,600
prisoners because of the military offensive by
Allied armies. He sustained the inhuman forced
march from Bor to Szentkirályszabadja, where he
wrote his last poem on 31 October. In November
1944, he and twenty other prisoners were shot
and killed by members of the Hungarian Guards
because of their total physical and mental
exhaustion. Different dates of his murder have
been given. Some publications specify a day in
the period from 6 to 10 November. In the
detailed and scientific exhibition of 2009 by
the Hungarian Academy of Sciences 4 November
was said to be the date of death. Today it takes
about 1 hour and 30 minutes to drive the
110 kilometers by car from Szentkirályszabadja
to Abda. Radnóti is buried in the Kerepesi
Cemetery with his wife. In 2013, his statue in
Abda was damaged, but the reason for the
damage has still not been clarified

Death
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Biography
Újmódi pásztorok
Pogány köszöntő (Pagan éneke (Songs of Modern
Greeting), Kortárs, Shepherds), Fiatal
Budapest 1930. Magyarország, Budapest
1931.
Járkálj csak,
halálraítélt! (Just Walk
Meredek út (Steep Road),
Around, Condemned!),
Cserépfalvi, Budapest 1938.
Nyugat Kiadása, Budapest
1936.
Radnóti Miklós
művei (Works of Miklos
Tajtékos ég (Foamy Sky),
Radnoti), Szepirodalmi
Révai, Budapest 1946.
Konyvkiado, Budapest
1978, 
Lábadozó
Újhold (New Moon),
szél (Convalescent Wind),
Fiatalok Müvészeti
Fiatalok Müvészeti
Kollégiumának kiadása,
Kollégiumának kiadása,
Szeged 1935.
Szeged 1933.
Orpheus nyomában :
műfordítások kétezer év
költőiből (In the Footsteps
Naptár (Calendar),
of Orpheus: Translations of
Hungária, Budapest 1942.
Poetry of Two Thousand
Year Old Poets), Pharos,
Budapest 1943.
Wife

• Radnóti Miklósné Gyarmati Fanni

was his wife. She was an
exceptional woman and the
inspiration for many of his poems.
After Radnóti's death, and only 9
years of being together, Fanni
stayed loyal to him for 70 years.
She never took a husband, and
only cared about the legacy of his
late husband. She died in 2014,
and after her death, her personal
journal has been published, which
includes a lot of interesting facts
about their life together.

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 • Radnóti Miklós: Napló; sajtó alá rend. Radnóti Miklósné,
Gyarmati Fanni's  utószó, jegyz. Melczer Tibor, szöveggond. Melczer Tibor,
biography Székely Sz. Magdolna; Magvető, Bp., 1989
• Radnóti Miklós. Fényképek; összeáll. Bókay László; Osiris,
Bp., 1999
• Radnóti Miklósné Gyarmati Fanni: Napló, 1935–1946, 1-
2.; sajtó alá rend. Ferencz Győző, Nagy Zsejke, jegyz.,
utószó Ferencz Győző; Jaffa, Bp., 2014
• Árnyékban éles fény vagy. A Radnóti házaspár fényképei;
vál., szerk., jegyz., utószó Krähling Edit; Jaffa, Bp., 2016
• Különben magyar költő vagyok. Radnóti Miklós
levelezése I.; sajtó alá rend. Bíró-Balogh Tamás; Jaffa,
Bp., 2017
Radnóti's Legacy
• Radnóti grew to become one of the most
famous authors of the 20th century, and
later being just as important in the 21st.
He left behind an exceptional legacy, and
many poems. With the help of her wife,
most of his life's work is known to public.
There are several public places, schools,
and streets named after him. There were
many statues made portraying him,
including a mural, where he was killed.
Pictures 
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.
Thank you
for your
attention!

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