Géza Gárdonyi

One of the best known writers of Hungary was „the hermit of Eger” born 150 years ago.

An important reason for his moving to Eger was to find  suitable surroundings for his immersed creative work. The quiet, peaceful environs, meditation, constant reading all contributed to the birth of his masterpieces.

He was very successful with his historic novels, like Stars of Eger (Eclipse of the Crescent Moon), Invisible Man, Salves of God. Some of his short stories are of historic topic, but he was also interested in life of simple town- or village people, too.  Some of his plays were and still have been played in theatres. His play The Wine were played more than a hundred times in the National Theatre.

He was member of the Hungariana Academy of Sciences,too from 1910.

His most famous novel, Stars of Eger (the English title is: Eclipse of the Crescent Moon) have been translated to more than twenty languages. It can be read in German, English, French, Turkish, Chinese, Bulgarian, Czechish, Esperanto, Estonian, Finnish, Dutch, Croatian, Polish, Lituanian, Russian, Armenian, Romanian, Slovakian, Slovenian and Ukranian languages among others. Some years ago Stars of Eger was elected to be the most popular book in Hungarian literature in a contest, named The Great Book.

He died in Eger in  1922. His tomb in the castle of Eger has become a pilgrimage place.

2013 is a memorial year of Gárdonyi. Therefore in Eger and all over Hungary we celebrate this anniversary with several cultural and scientific programmes.