Mihály Fazekas
Encyclopedia
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
writer from Debrecen
Debrecen
Debrecen , is the second largest city in Hungary after Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar county.- Name :...
. He was an army private for seven years before being commissioned as a Hussar officer. As a hobby, Fazekas studied the natural sciences (botany) and wrote poetry. His poetry expressed his enlightened disgust with warfare and violence and brought to light the social injustices of his society.
His epic poem Lúdas Matyi (Mattie the Goose-boy), written in 1804, was based on a folk-tale of unexact origins.
In the story, Matyi, the main character tries to sell his geese at the market, but runs into trouble with the servants of the local squire. The plot revolves around Matyi's scheme to get back at the squire.
The popularity of this story is because Matyi is the first commonfolk hero in Hungarian literature who is victorious over his "social superior".
His poem was made into a film in 1949. It was directed by Kálmán Nádasdy and featured the actors Imre Soós
Imre Soós
Imre Soós was a Hungarian actor, mostly known for his roles in communist Propaganda films during the 1950s. He played the leading role in the 1956 movie Körhinta.-Early years:...
and Éva Ruttkai
Éva Ruttkai
Éva Ruttkai was a Hungarian actress, well known from her work on stage, cinema, and television productions...
.
A memorial plaque to Fazekas still exists on the wall of the house at No. 58 Piac Street, where the author once lived.