Illyés, Gyula (1902-1983)

Hungarian writer, poet, and translator. He was a leading figure of the Populist writers' movement in the 1930s. Puszták népe/People of the Puszta 1936 is a partly autobiographical evocation of the hardships of peasant life on the Great Hungarian Plain. His Selected Poems was published in 1971.

Illyés was the editor of several periodicals, including Nyugat, Válasz/Response, and Magyar Csillag/Hungarian Star. He was highly critical of the Stalinist regime during the 1956 uprising. He published a volume of memoirs, Beatrice apródjai/Beatrice's Pageboys, in 1979.