Ferenc Molnár
1878–1952
Biography
Ferenc Molnár was a Hungarian-born playwright, novelist, stage director and poet, born Ferenc Neumann in Budapest on 12 January 1878. Many consider him the best-known and most debated dramatist Hungary has produced, and his name is recognised abroad mainly through his plays. He studied law in Budapest and in Geneva, and he began writing in earnest while still a student. The play The Devil (1907) made him famous across Europe and in New York. He left Hungary during the Second World War to escape the persecution of Hungarian Jews, later took American citizenship, and died in New York City on 1 April 1952.
His plays are the core of his reputation. Liliom, The Swan (1920), The Guardsman and The Play's the Thing (1924) remain in performance, and many were filmed: The Swan appeared on screen in 1956 with Grace Kelly, and more than a hundred films and television productions have drawn on his work. His comedies combine realism with fantasy and sentiment with irony. Wilde, Shaw and Hauptmann were among the writers he learned from.
The book on this site is A Pál-utcai fiúk (The Paul Street Boys), the novel for which he is best known outside the theatre. It follows two rival gangs of boys in Budapest, and its subtitle marks it as a novel for young schoolboys. Translated into more than forty languages, it has been staged, filmed and studied in schools in several countries. Many readers consider it a masterpiece, and it is worth reading alongside the plays to see the range of a writer better known for the stage.
This biography was written by a language model. The sources below are where to check it; treat details with care.
Books
A Pál-utcai fiúk: Regény kis diákok számára
by Ferenc Molnár
Two gangs of Budapest schoolboys go to war over an empty timber yard, the only open ground the Pál Street boys have to play on. Molnár follows the boys' club, its ranks and loyalties, and above all the smallest of them, the private Nemecsek, through a few weeks of a city winter.
Summary written by Claude Opus 5.5.