Jenő Rejtő
Jenő Rejtő was a Hungarian interwar journalist, pulp fiction writer and playwright, famous in Hungary for his books and novellas - adventure and detective novels and parodies of these genres, characterized by a unique sense of absurd humour. He died in a labour camp during World War II.
Early life
Jenő Rejtő was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, on 29 March 1905, to Áron Reich Lipót and Wolf Ilona. He had two brothers, Lajos and Gyula. He lived with ill-health as a child, but took boxing and acting classes as well as writing poetry. He completed his studies in a drama school in 1924, after which he travelled extensively throughout Europe.He studied to be an actor in Berlin, then travelled around Europe, working as a longshoreman in Germany, a fisherman in Sweden, a construction worker in Switzerland, and a dancer in France, among others. He also joined a travelling circus for a time, and visited North Africa. It remains subject to debate whether he had actually joined the French Foreign Legion -- the scene of many of his novels.
Career
After returning from his travelling, he made his living as a playwright in Hungary, most notably with his operetta, Aki mer, az nyer.Later, he started to write adventure novels based on his trips and experiences abroad, using a writing style which included his unusual sense of humour. His most successful novels were written under the pseudonym P. Howard, and parodied the French Foreign Legion. His most popular novels combined elements from detective novels, romance and humour. He also wrote novels in the tradition of American Westerns, as well as a large number of cabaret farces, and editing the first and only edition of the newspaper, Nagykörút.
While a writer, he was a regular customer at the Cafe Japan in Budapest, which was near the Nova publishing house, his publisher. At times, he paid for his coffee with paragraphs written on napkins, which in turn were taken to Nova, where they were purchased and collated.
Death
Starting in 1939, he could not publish his novels any more under his own name because of his Jewish origins. On 9 October 1942, an article in the Nazi Arrow Cross Party's newspaper exposed Rejtő as a Jew and reported that he was seen writing calmly in Budapest cafés while evading the labour service draft that was compulsory for Jewish men of military age. He was seriously ill by this time but was taken by force from hospital to do his labour service on the eastern front, into the Soviet Union.He died in Evdakovo, Voronezh Oblast, Soviet Union on 1 January 1943.
Legacy
In the early years of communism his works were only available on the black market as pre-war editions, but from the 1960s on, his novels were republished, and they gained instant popularity in Hungary. Some of his works have been made into films and comic books. Rejtő's comic book adaptations by Pál Korcsmáros are regarded as classics in their own right in Hungary.Rejtő's memory is kept alive in Budapest. In 2001 a street was named after him, while in 2003 there was an exhibition dedicated to him in the Petőfi Museum of Literature. In 2005 his picture appeared on a Hungarian postage stamp and there was an initiative to erect his statue in Budapest.
Works
In English
Many of Rejtő's numerous works - the most famous of which are his Foreign Legion books and his "Dirty Fred" series - have been translated into English:- The "Dirty Fred" sailor novels - standalone humourous adventures featuring colourful characters of the underworld of the world's port cities, including Jimmy Ears, Dirty Fred the Captain and the blue-bearded Mister Wagner:
- * The Lost Cruiser, 2024:
- * Dirty Fred, the Captain, 2024:
- * Dirty Fred Intervenes, 2024:
- * The Found Cruiser, 2024:
- French Foreign Legion adventure novels:
- * The Cursed Shore, 2024:
- * The Three Musketeers in Africa, 2024:
- * March or Die, 2024:
- * The Bone Brigade, 2024:
- * The Frontier Garrison
- ** 2025 translation:
- ** 2014 translation: ;
- * The Invisible Legion, 2025:
- * A Gentleman even in Hell, 2024:
- Crime and mystery:
- * The Embezzled Cashier, 2025:
- * The Stolen Knight, 2025:
- * One Fool Makes A Hundred, 2021:
- * Quarantine at the Grand Hotel, Corvina, 2005:
- * The 14-Carat Roadster, 2017
- * The Blonde Hurricane, Corvina, 2013:
In Hungarian
The original Hungarian editions of his works entered the public domain everywhere on 1 January 2014.All of the Hungarian texts and scans of most first editions of Rejtő's works are available on the archive website of the National Széchényi Library, Hungary's national library.
Some of his most popular works not translated into English include:
- Texas Bill, a fenegyerek
- Pokol a hegyek között
- Megyek Párizsba ahol még nem haldokoltam