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Attila Gérecz

ゲレツ・アッティラ

Gerecz Attila

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1929-11-20 （Dunakeszi, Hungary）
Died
1956-11-07 （Budapest, Hungary） age 26
Nationality
Hungarian
Languages
Hungarian
Residence History
Dunakeszi (birthplace) → Budapest (place of activity and death)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Modern pentathlete, Revolutionary/Combatant
Active Years
1945-1956
Influenced By
German, English and French poets (translated while imprisoned), Prison poet community (the 'Füveskert' group)
Influenced
Later Hungarian poets writing about the 1956 uprising and memorial poetry

Education

Kölcsey Ferenc Gimnázium
Period: 〜1948
Year of Graduation: 1948
Country: Hungary
Graduated in 1948
Gábor Áron Royal Military Artillery Cadet School (attended)
Period: 1945頃
Year of Graduation: 1945
Country: Hungary (then)
Attended as a youth; evacuated west during wartime

Awards

Balassi Bálint Memorial Sword (posthumous)
2000
Organization: Balassi prize organization
Result: 受賞（追贈）
Honorary Citizen of Dunakeszi
2004
Organization: City of Dunakeszi
Result: 受賞（追贈）
Honorary Citizen of Terézváros (posthumous)
2016
Organization: Budapest District VI (Terézváros)
Result: 受賞（追贈）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Így bocskorosan

1954 Poetry

A poem written in prison expressing youth, hope and determination; later included in collected editions and widely known.

freedomprison experienceyouthhope

Sorsod művészete

2000 Collected poems / commentary

An edited volume collecting posthumous poems and commentary; published in multiple editions and a key compilation of Gérecz's legacy.

remembrancememorypolitical struggle

Escape at the Time of the Great Flood

2007 Prose / autobiographical fragment

Deals with his 1954 escape from Vác prison during the great flood; combines poetic elements with autobiographical reminiscence.

escapewater (the Danube)survival and hope
Adaptations
  • [Short film] Escape at the Time of the Great Flood (short film) / Czigány Zoltán (1996)

Bibliography

  • Így bocskorosan. Collected poems and writings (Kräter, 2001)
  • The Art of Your Fate. Poems and Afterlife of Attila Gérecz (Stadium, 2001)
  • Így bocskorosan (expanded ed., Kráter, 2006)
  • Fragment. Escape at the Time of the Great Flood (Stadium, 2007)
  • Complete Works of Gérecz Attila (critical edition, 2017)

Adaptations

  • Csendkút (2007, feature film)
  • Escape at the Time of the Great Flood (1996, short film)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
concise, direct prison poetrylyricism combined with resolvesometimes prosaic, autobiographical approach
Recurring Motifs
youth and camaraderiefreedom and resistancewater (the Danube) / escapeprison life and hope

Legacy

Attila Gérecz is remembered as a martyr of the 1956 uprising; his prison poems became symbols of resistance and youth in Hungary. He is commemorated through posthumous publications, film adaptations, and memorials (including a namesake swimming pool in his native Dunakeszi).

Archives

  • Posthumous manuscripts held by Hungarian literary archives and publishers

In Popular Culture

  • Film portrayals such as the 2007 biographical film 'Csendkút', the namesake Dunakeszi swimming pool, memorial plaques and commemorative events

Quotes

  • Thus, mocked for my rough shoes, shall I set off to break marble as if a mountain? A cheeky smile sits on my lips, the slogan, my whistle mischievous: I too will climb!
    Source: Gérecz Attila, "Így bocskorosan" (1954)

Trivia

  • In his youth he was a national-level modern pentathlete.
  • In 1954 he reportedly swam across the flooded Danube to escape from Vác prison.
  • He died in the street fighting of the 1956 Budapest uprising and became a subject of commemoration.
  • His manuscripts were first published abroad and later appeared in multiple editions in Hungary from 1991 onward.