The Hungarian Writers Association said Méhes's funeral would be announced at a later date.
Méhes was born Elek Nagy in Székelyudvarhely - today Odorheiu Secuiesc, in Romania - in 1916. His family moved to Kolozsvár - today Cluj in Romania - in 1917. After completing his law studies in Cluj, Méhes worked for the local magazine Új Cimbora.
In 1938, he spent several months in Budapest on a scholarship he was awarded by the National Theatre. Between 1938 and 1944 he wrote a theatre column for the magazine Pásztortűz, and later for the journal Keleti Újság. He also contributed political analyses, short stories and satirical pieces.
Between 1944 and 1952 he worked for a number of newspapers, but was often criticised for not joining the Communist Party. He even changed his name to György Méhes after the communist writer István Nagy was rumoured to have expressed his discomfort sharing the same family name as Elek Nagy.
Méhes became a freelancer in 1952, the same year he published his first novel Sunshine. He also wrote several children's books during the 50s, among them Paul Pearldew and Other Tales, The Treasure of the Carpathians, Frank Sparky, Adamant Steel, A Wizard of Flowers and The World-Famous Nicholas.
He returned to the theatre in the early 1960s, but his first play, the absurd Lion in the Castle was a failure. Undeterred, he wrote shortly afterward a comedy entitled 33 Anonymous Letters which was an instant success. A series of serious plays and comedies followed, revealing many of the tensions that existed in society during the period.
Méhes's first novel for adults, Orsolya, was published in 1977. He followed up with the Millionaires of Cluj in the same year and, in 1982, Confidential Report About a Young Man, which drew on his experiences during World War II. Many of Méhes's books were dismissed by critics at the time and found few readers. But they have been rediscovered in Hungary in recent years and are now well displayed in most bookshops.
Méhes was presented with the Kossuth Prize, Hungary's highest award for artists, in 2002. He was recognised by the European Academy in Vienna in 2005.
