Lázár, a winner of the Kossuth and József Attila prizes, Hungary?s highest awards for writers, is well known by generations of Hungarians for his characters Berzsián, Dideki, Dömdödöm, Mikkamakka and Horse Szerafin ? some of his characters names were actually contributed by Lázár?s young daughter Fruzsina.
Lázár was born in Budapest in 1936, but considers the village of Alsórácegrespuszta, where his family lived between 1938 and 1951, to be his home. Life in the closely-knit community, as well as stories told by some of the locals served as inspiration for many of his tales.
Lázár started studying journalism at Budapest?s Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), but later switched to Hungarian. From 1959 to 1965, Lázár wrote for several local newspapers in the southwest of Hungary. At the same time, he worked as an editor for the journal Jelenkor, which published his first tale in 1958. From 1965 to 1971, he worked as a layout editor for the literary journal Élet és Irodalom, and, until 1989, he was a freelance writer. Between 1989 and his retirement in 1996, Lázár worked for a number of Hungarian newspapers, while his books continued to receive awards.
In addition to writing tales, Lázár has written radio plays and plays for puppet theatre. Some of his stories have been adapted for film, television and the stage. Lázár's tale Poor Johnny and Arnica has been made into a feature film, and Péter Gárdos's film The Porcelain Doll is also based on Lázár's collection of short stories The Star Farm.
Lázár was invited to join the Hungarian Academy of Arts in 1994, and was presented with the the Soros Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992.
Source: The Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
