Antal Szerb

Antal Szerb (1901–1945) was a Hungarian writer and literary scholar. He studied Hungarian studies, German, and English and received his doctorate in 1924 with a dissertation on the poet Ferenc Kölcsey. Alongside his fiction, he wrote major works of literary scholarship, including a history of Hungarian literature (1934) and a history of world literature (1941). His best-known novels include “The Pendragon Legend” (1934), “Journey by Moonlight” (1937), and “The Queen’s Necklace” (1943). Szerb worked for a time as a teacher of Hungarian and English and later taught at the University of Szeged. He received the Baumgarten Prize in 1935 and 1937. Because of his Jewish origins, he was conscripted into forced labor in 1944 and murdered at the Balf camp on January 27, 1945.