Vas Gereben
Born Radákovics József, (Fürged, 7 April1823 –26 January 1868, Wien), a widely read author in the 1850-1860s’ next to Jókai. His father, who was an earl of the archducal estates, wanted him to be a priest, but Vas Gereben could hardly bare the school’s discipline. After his studies at Veszprém and Pécs, he was expelled and began his career as an economy intern in a manor at Dunántúl. According to the contemporary writers he was well known for his cynical sense of humor. Later he enrolled in a course at the Law School of Győr, where he started a club and a critical school paper (Két garasos tár) with the other students. From 1844 he sent his writings to Életképek and Honderű magazines from Győr, therefore his name became recognized quickly. After he finished his studies in Győr, he went to Sopron to be a law clerk and later to Pest, where he took the lawyer exam. After his exam he started to publish his satirical writings on regular basis in Jelenkor and Pesti Divatlap magazines. His funny articles were published in two books. In 1848 the Hungarian government asked Vas Gereben and Arany János to edit a political newspaper called Nép Barátja (People’s Friend). The paper was supervised mainly by Gereben in the spirit of War-of-Independence. The primitive, demotic style of the paper (speaking to the peasants in a spoon-feed manner) kept him from fulfilling his task properly. Arany János, who lived in Nagyszalonta at a time, usually complained about this. After the Hungarian army put down their weapons at Világos, Gereben had to go into hiding, but he was caught and put into captivity. He was deprived from his law diploma as well. After his release, he dedicated his life to literature. From the 1850s’ he was one of the most widely read Hungarian authors. Almost every year he published a new book, also his drawings, articles, anecdotes, genre paintings appeared in the contemporary papers. He had a wobbly financial situation, as a solution he edited calendars, books and popular publications in order to settle, but he also didn’t refuse aids from the conservatives. Between 1858 and 1859 he edited the Két Garasos (Two deniers) newspaper. After the conciliation he travelled to Vienna to report on the negotiations of the delegates, but he abruptly died. His remains were transferred to Budapest in 1885.
His popularity was due to the fact that after the years of Világos, when there was suppression and autocracy in Hungary, his novels and books about the decade of reform gave hope and solace for the readers. In his novels he followed Jókai’s pattern, but sugarcoated the history (the first half of the century) way more. His excessively idyllic approach was equilibrated by the fact that he was a good stylist, a narrator with rich vocabulary and he knew the world he was writing about. He was a master in portraying the landscape and people of Dunántúl. In his novels all the different types of people were present of the first of half of the 19th century, from the villager judge to the county’s earl. He introduced some significant people of the reform era (e.g.: Festetics György, Széchenyi István etc.) and the typical figures of the noble community. He aimed to paint a true picture on his era, almost all of his books linked to historical events, persons or movements. His episodical characters and details turned out the best. His oeuvre could have been permanent if he had found his own style, his own genre, the anecdotic novel. The aesthetic weaknesses of his creations were the shallowness of the people and the angle of the society, the slack structure, telling anecdotes for their own sake, the forced folkish style, which made his popularity among the next generation fade. His best virtue – his style – could not guarantee his further success.
