Sandor Marai

Sándor Márai was a Hungarian writer and journalist, born on April 11, 1900, in Kassa, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Košice in Slovakia). He gained recognition as a novelist and essayist, becoming one of the leading voices in literature between the two World Wars. Márai's works dealt with themes of isolation, betrayal, and the moral decline of the bourgeoisie. His most famous novel, 'Embers' ('A gyertyák csonkig égnek'), published in 1942, is an exploration of friendship, love, and truth. After the rise of the Communist regime in Hungary, Márai went into exile in 1948, living in Italy, the United States, and ultimately settling in San Diego. He continued to write in Hungarian throughout his life, but his work was largely ignored by the Communist regime and only rediscovered and republished after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Márai committed suicide on February 21, 1989, in San Diego.