József Molnár
Encyclopedia
József Molnár was a Hungarian writer, journalist, publisher and printer.
with relatives of his mother. He bore his mother's maiden name and was called József Lagler until the age of fourteen when he was adopted by Jenő Molnár. He attended the Kossuth Lajos Grammar School in Budapest.
On 1 December 1938, he became a member of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary. In 1945 he joined the National Peasant Party (Nemzeti Parasztpárt) and was elected to their executive committee. In 1947 he resigned from the party and left Hungary in November 1948. From then on he lived in exile. After arriving in Switzerland, in the summer of 1949 he earned his living in various companies as a labourer. In the further course of his emigration
, József Molnár worked for several years as a political commentator at Radio Free Europe
. He went on to New York and back again to Europe.
by Thornton Wilder
. The couple wed in September 1965 and remained together until József's death. His cremated remains are located at the Munich East Cemetery.
Látóhatár, and renamed again in 1958 as Új Látóhatár (New Horizon). He founded a printing company in Munich, where the magazine was produced over decades of outstanding quality. He was the spiritus rector of the magazine until the publication of last issue in December 1989. From 1963, he published numerous books of Hungarian authors in his publishing house Aurora. In 1997, Molnár was honored for his life's work with the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic.
He viewed himself as "a servant of letters". He spent years doing research on the Hungarian punchcutter
Miklós Kis
(1650–1702), and created Misztótfalusi Kis Miklós Múzeumi Alapítvány. He founded the museum in Misztótfalu, which was inaugurated and opened to the public on 8 September 1991. He was a founding member of the Academia Musicae Pro Mundo Uno in Rome. The Academia was founded in 1978 by József Juhar (a Hungarian theologian and music expert). Juhar and Molnár remained life-long friends.
Biography
His mother, Mária Lagler (1886–1943), worked in Budapest as a cook, his biological father is unknown. József grew up in CsepregCsepreg
Csepreg is a town in Vas County, Hungary. it is the largest town on the Répce River.Although tourism, particularly camping and fishing, are important sources of income for the town, a plan for the establishment of a metal finishing factory was accepted by the council after the first plan had been...
with relatives of his mother. He bore his mother's maiden name and was called József Lagler until the age of fourteen when he was adopted by Jenő Molnár. He attended the Kossuth Lajos Grammar School in Budapest.
On 1 December 1938, he became a member of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary. In 1945 he joined the National Peasant Party (Nemzeti Parasztpárt) and was elected to their executive committee. In 1947 he resigned from the party and left Hungary in November 1948. From then on he lived in exile. After arriving in Switzerland, in the summer of 1949 he earned his living in various companies as a labourer. In the further course of his emigration
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
, József Molnár worked for several years as a political commentator at Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
. He went on to New York and back again to Europe.
Family
In 1955 he met Olga Leibold, his future second wife. It was a conversation about the novel The Bridge of San Luis ReyThe Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Bridge of San Luis Rey is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel, first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. It tells the story of several interrelated people who die in the collapse of an Inca rope-fiber suspension bridge in Peru, and the events that lead up to their being on the...
by Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
. The couple wed in September 1965 and remained together until József's death. His cremated remains are located at the Munich East Cemetery.
Work
In 1950, József Molnár joined a group of Hungarian exiles, who founded a journal of literature and politics,Látóhatár, and renamed again in 1958 as Új Látóhatár (New Horizon). He founded a printing company in Munich, where the magazine was produced over decades of outstanding quality. He was the spiritus rector of the magazine until the publication of last issue in December 1989. From 1963, he published numerous books of Hungarian authors in his publishing house Aurora. In 1997, Molnár was honored for his life's work with the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic.
He viewed himself as "a servant of letters". He spent years doing research on the Hungarian punchcutter
Punchcutting
In traditional typography, punchcutting is the craft of cutting letter punches in steel from which matrices were made in copper for type founding in the letterpress era. Cutting punches and casting type was the first step of traditional typesetting. The cutting of letter punches was a highly...
Miklós Kis
Janson
Janson is the name given to an old-style serif typeface named for Dutch punch-cutter and printer Anton Janson. Research in the 1970s and early 1980s, however, concluded that the typeface was the work of a Hungarian punch-cutter named Miklós Tótfalusi Kis...
(1650–1702), and created Misztótfalusi Kis Miklós Múzeumi Alapítvány. He founded the museum in Misztótfalu, which was inaugurated and opened to the public on 8 September 1991. He was a founding member of the Academia Musicae Pro Mundo Uno in Rome. The Academia was founded in 1978 by József Juhar (a Hungarian theologian and music expert). Juhar and Molnár remained life-long friends.
Awards
- 1991 Pro Cultura Hungarica Plaquette
- 1991 Bethlen Gábor Prize
- 1994 Nagy Imre Memorial Award
- 1997 Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic