George Denes

* May 24, 1923, Pelsőc, † September 14, 2007, Bratislava / poet, translator, editor, member of the Hungarian Writers' Association of Slovakia. ; ; He was one of the most prominent representatives of the founding generation of Hungarian literature in Slovakia after World War II. At the end of 1948, Hungarians in Slovakia regained their rights and could again speak, write and study Hungarian. At that time, he sent his first poems to the weekly newspaper Új Szó, which had just been launched. The first collection of poems published after the end of the disenfranchisement of Hungarians in the Uplands was Dénes György's volume Magra vár a föld (1951). From the seventies, his poetry was primarily aimed at children. ; ; György Dénes' original name: Dániel Dusík. He was born on May 24, 1923 in Pelsőc. His father, Dániel Dusík, worked as a bricklayer. His mother, Anna Bodnár, was a housewife. He attended elementary school in his native village, the middle school in Tornalj, and the commercial school in Rozsnyó. He also worked as an official, casual worker, and factory worker. He was a founding member of the Csemadok of Pelsőc and often appeared as an amateur actor. His wife, Margit Pulen, was also born in Pelsőc, whom he married on Christmas Day 1950. ; In 1950, he left his homeland and settled in Bratislava, where he worked for the Central Committee of the Csemadok, and later, from 1951, he became the editor of the Hungarian broadcast of the Czechoslovak Radio. He founded the literary column, which he led until 1986. The radio's literary column, led by György Dénes, helped to establish and develop Hungarian literature in Slovakia. There are many who, thanks to his editorial attention, found an opportunity to communicate. His writings appeared in the columns of Fáklya, Szabad Földműves, Hét, Dolgozó Nő and Irodalmi Szemle. Despite this, he never separated himself from his homeland, the picturesque slopes of Gömör, which he mentions very often in his works. György Dénes loved his native village, Pelsőc, to which he returned every year. Especially in the summer for a longer period of time, and at such times he often wandered through his favorite childhood locations: Kónyárt, Nagyhegy and the banks of the Sajó. He writes about them as follows: ; ; The distant blue sky shines radiantly, ; While I walk along the Sajó. ; ; The peaks of the mountains around Pelsőc beckon, ; A wave of rain scatters the color. ; ; The meadow is full of colorful wildflowers ; It showers its sweet scent. ; ; Among the golden-eared rye fields ; The morning mists are still hiding. ; ; Dewdrops tremble on the leaves, ; The bowing willows are shedding tears. ; ; Under the blue mountains beyond the Sajón ; The pines, bathed in light, glow. ; ; When he returned in the summer, he often visited the nearby Gombaszög, where he met his fellow poets and writers. ; “His personal lyrics are quite pessimistic, yet not resigned poetry. Basically, it is laced with a romantic, life-affirming resignation.”- writes Gyula Duba, when he greets the poet on his 80th birthday. ; “To hum for a long time over a cradle, / to guard a small flame with emotion, / to smile – if broken, old, / to ponder on a leaf.” ; “He often published book reviews and journalistic writings in Hungarian newspapers in Slovakia, and although as a poet he was strongly concerned with the issue of death and passing away, he was a cheerful person who greeted his poet and writer friends on their birthdays with humorous poems and rhymes. He also enjoyed meeting readers, especially children,”- writes Tihamér Lacza about him. ; He wrote children's poems from the beginning, but especially from the 1970s, when his grandchildren were born one after another. He increasingly appeared with writings for the youngest, with separate volumes. His poetry collections were very popular, generations grew up on them. These poems evoke the beauties of his homeland, the atmosphere of individual regions, but they also talk about plants and animals. He playfully weaved the names of the villages and towns of the highlands into many of his poems: ; ; “Pelsőc, Gombaszög, Szalóc, ; tökmagot rág a palóc. ; Jolsva, Csetnek, Nagyrőce, ; sül a fánk, a herőce.“ ; ; His children's poems were published in the following volumes: ; ; Tücsökhegedű - 1974 ; Pipitér - 1984 ; Beech Woodpecker – 1987 ; Zebra Bird - 1991 ; Three Hats Went for a Walk - 1994 ; Hemp Seed – 1994 ; The Sneezing King - 2000 ; The Jackdaw (Leporello) Takes Flight to the Tower - 2002 ; Iron Cuckoo - 2003 ; Verse Zoo - 2010 ; What's in the Attic? - 2016 ; ; His poems have been published in the following verse anthologies: ; ; The Earth Is Waiting for Seeds – 1952 ; Under Blue Mountains - 1955 ; Do You Hear the Trees Resonating? - 1962 ; The Power of Years – 1966 ; In the Prison of Time – 1966 ; Above the Depths – 1972 ; Against the Universe - 1976; Juniper on the Grass - 1979; Blooming Silence - 1981; From Dawn to Dusk - 1983; The Light is Running Out - 1988; Writers in Light and Shadow - 2001; Swans' Night Song - 2002; Windcaller - 1966; A Rare Tree with Wild Goose-Bearing Trees - 1993; From Csallóköz to Bodrogköz - 1977; Presence - 1979; How to Fly - 1986; With Faithful Humanity - 1987; Fire Palace - 199; On the Edge of the Highway - 1990; ; He also maintained good relations with Slovak literary figures, including Emil Boleslav Lukáč-csal. Several translations of his poems from the Slovak language have also been published: ; About the Dumb Mouse, ; Selected Poems of Július Lenko. ; ; His best-known collection of poems is Pipitér, which was first published in 1984. The title poem reads as follows: ; ; “Where the vein chatters, ; the pipitér is full of stars. ; Pipitér, pipitér, ; yellow star and white.” ; ; Several people have set his children's poems to music: Ernő Zachovai, Jenő Szíjártó, József Dinnyés, Ars Musica, the Kaláka and Borostyán ensembles, and perhaps the most beloved of all, his son Gábor Dusík's CD entitled Sétálni ment három kalap. ; ; His work has been awarded numerous awards: ; 1971 - Madách Award, ; 2003 - Posonium Lifetime Achievement Award, ; 2003 - Silver Plaque of the Slovak Government, ; 1999 - Salvatore Quasimodo Award. ; ; On the occasion of his 80th birthday, the municipality of Pelsőc awarded him the title of Honorary Citizen. ; ; György Dénes died on September 14, 2007 in Bratislava. He would have liked his ashes to be returned to his homeland. His family respected this, so his ashes were brought back to Pelsőc. ; A memorial plaque was placed in his honor in Pelsőc, which was inaugurated on May 23, 2009; the plaque can be found on the wall of the Pelsőc cultural center. ; On May 19, 2015, within the framework of a beautiful ceremony, the Pelsőc Hungarian Language Elementary School took the name of György Dénes. The poet's widow, Margit Pulen, and her family attended the ceremony. ; ; Many people ask why he was chosen as the namesake of the school? ; After all, he was not a hero, nor was he a fashionable star, he was not rich, nor was he infallible. He was a human being, nothing more, a native of our village. But he loved what we love: the childlike spirit, the cheerfulness, the play, he loved the "blue mountains", the birdsong, the sea of flowers in the meadow, the parental house, and he could put this into words like no one else. ; ; Sources: ; Gyula Duba: Our first poet for György Dénes' 80th birthday ; József Mács: Festive speech at the naming ceremony of the Dénes György Elementary School, 2015; Zoltán Fónod Conversation with the poet Dénes György, on his 80th birthday, 2003; Károly Kövesdi: A Silent Lyricist Has Gone, 2007; Tihamér Lacza: The Light Is Leaking, Szabad Újság 2007.9.26.; http://www.szmit.sk/modules.php?name=News&amp,file=article&amp,sid=151; http://ujszo.com/online/kultura/2009/05/20/emlektablat-avatnak-denes-gyorgy-emlekere; http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pels%C5%91c; https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9nes_Gy%C3%B6rgy_(k%C3%B6lt%C5%91)