ARANY, JANOS (1817-1882), Hungarian poet, was born at Nagy-Szalonta on March 2, 1817. His family were small Cal vinist yeomen of noble origin, whose property consisted of a rush thatched cottage and a tiny plot of land. An only son, late born, seeing no companions of his own age, hearing nothing but the voices of his parents and the hymns and prayers in the little Calvinist chapel, Arany grew up a grave, gentle, and precocious child. From 1832 to 1836 Arany was a teacher, then a travelling actor. Remorse for the despair of his father, who had meant to make a pastor of this prodigal son, drove him home, carrying all his property tied up in a handkerchief. Shortly after his home-coming his mother died and his father became stone-blind. Arany at once resolved to remain with his father. He obtained a conrectorship and in 1840 a notaryship. He married Juliana Ercsey, the penniless orphan daughter of an advocate. The next few happy years were devoted to his profession and a good deal of miscellaneous reading, especially of Shakespeare (he learnt English in order to compare the original with his well-thumbed German version) and Homer. Meanwhile the reactionaries of Vienna were goading the Magyar Liberals into revolt, and Arany composed a satirical poem in hexameters, entitled "The Lost Constitution," for which he received a prize (1846) from the Kisfaludy Society, the great literary association of Hungary. He won a second prize with his Toldi (the first part of his epic trilogy), and found himself famous. Petofi was the first to greet him as a brother. In 1848 the people of Szalonte. elected him their deputy to the Hungarian parliament. But neither then nor subsequently (1861, 1869) would he accept a parliamentary mandate. In 1849 he was in the civil service of the revolutionary government, and after the final catastrophe returned to his native place, living as best he could on his small savings till 185o, when Lajos Tisza, the father of Kalman Tisza, the future prime minister, invited him to his castle at Geszt to teach his son Domokos the art of poetry. In the following year Arany was elected professor of Hungarian literature and language at the Nagy-Kiiros gymnasium. He also attempted to write another epic poem, but the time was not favourable for such an undertaking. The miserable condition of his country, and his own very pre carious situation, weighed heavily upon his sensitive soul. More over, reflection on past events made clear to him not only the sufferings but the defects and follies of the national heroes, and a bitterly humorous vein in his writings dates from this time. Thus Bolond Istok, the first canto of which he completed in 185o, is full of sub-acrid merriment. During his nine years' resi dence at Nagy-Koros, Arany composed some beautiful Magyar ballads, and wrote two dissertations on the technique of the ballad in general: "Something concerning assonance" (1854), and "On Hungarian National Versification" (1856).
When the Hungarian Academy opened its doors again after a ten years' cessation, Arany was elected a member (1858). In 186o he was elected director of the revived Kisfaludy Society, and went to Pest. In November, he started Szepirodalmi Figyelo, a monthly review of Magyar criticism and literature, better known by its later name, Koszeru. He also edited the principal publica tions of the society, including the translation of Shakespeare's works, to which he contributed the Midsummer Night's Dream (1864) Hamlet and King John (1867). The same year he won the Nadasdy prize of the Academy with his poem "Death of Buda." From 1865 to 1879 he was the secretary of the Hungarian Academy.
He issued an edition of his collected poems in 1867, and in 188o won the Karacsonyi prize with his translation of the Comedies of Aristophanes (188o). In 1879 he completed his epic trilogy by publishing The Love of Toldi and Toldi's Evening, which were received with universal enthusiasm. He died suddenly on Oct. 24 1882. The first edition of his collected works was published in 1884-85.
Arany first gave Hungarian literature a national direction. He compelled the poetry of art to draw nearer to life and nature, extended its boundaries and made it more generally intelligible and popular. He wrote not for one class or school but for the whole nation. He introduced the popular element into literature, but at the same time elevated and ennobled it. What Petofi had done for lyrical he did for epic poetry. Yet there were great differences between them. Petdfi was more subjective, more individual; Arany was more objective and national. As a lyric poet Petofi naturally gave expression to present moods and feel ings ; as an epic poet Arany plunged into the past. He took his standpoint on tradition. His art was essentially rooted in the character of the whole nation and its glorious history. His genius was unusually rich and versatile ; his artistic conscience al ways alert and sober. His taste was extraordinarily developed and absolutely sure. To say nothing of his other great qualities, he is certainly the most artistic of all the Magyar poets.