The Most Famous

Writers from Hungary

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This page contains a list of the greatest Hungarians Writers. The pantheon dataset contains 7,302 Writers, 82 of which were born in Hungary. This makes Hungary the birth place of the 19th most number of Writers behind Norway and Austria.

Top 10 Hungarian Writers

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Hungarians Writers of all time. This list of famous Hungarians Writers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Hungarians Writers.

  1. #1
    Photo of Theodor Herzl

    Theodor Herzl

    1860 - 1904

    HPI 81.0483 langs

    Theodor Herzl is most famous for being the founder of modern Zionism. He was also a journalist, playwright, and author.

  2. #2
    Photo of Imre Kertész

    Imre Kertész

    1929 - 2016

    HPI 78.2090 langs
    Imre Kertész is a Hungarian writer and Holocaust survivor. He is most famous for his novel, "Fateless," which tells the story of a...Read moreShow less

    Imre Kertész is a Hungarian writer and Holocaust survivor. He is most famous for his novel, "Fateless," which tells the story of a 15-year-old Jewish boy who is sent to Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944.

  3. #3
    Photo of Sándor Petőfi

    Sándor Petőfi

    1823 - 1849

    HPI 73.8766 langs

    Sándor Petőfi is most famous for writing the Hungarian national anthem.

  4. #4
    Photo of Ágota Kristóf

    Ágota Kristóf

    1935 - 2011

    HPI 73.5642 langs

    Ágota Kristóf is most famous for her novel "The Notebook."

  5. #5
    Photo of Sándor Márai

    Sándor Márai

    1900 - 1989

    HPI 73.5245 langs

    Sándor Márai is most famous for his novel, Embers, which tells the story of a Hungarian family in the aftermath of World War II.

  6. #6
    Photo of Arthur Koestler

    Arthur Koestler

    1905 - 1983

    HPI 71.9154 langs

    Arthur Koestler is most famous for his novel, Darkness at Noon, which is a fictionalized account of the Moscow Trials.

  7. #7
    Photo of Ferenc Molnár

    Ferenc Molnár

    1878 - 1952

    HPI 70.7838 langs

    Ferenc Molnár is most famous for his play Liliom, which is about a man who falls in love with a young woman who is engaged to another man.

  8. #8
    Photo of Felix Salten

    Felix Salten

    1869 - 1945

    HPI 69.5644 langs

    Felix Salten is most famous for his novel "Bambi: A Life in the Woods."

  9. #9
    Photo of Ján Kollár

    Ján Kollár

    1793 - 1852

    HPI 68.5340 langs
    Ján Kollár is most famous for his contributions to the Slovak language. Kollár was one of the first people to write in Slovak, and he was...Read moreShow less

    Ján Kollár is most famous for his contributions to the Slovak language. Kollár was one of the first people to write in Slovak, and he was one of the first people to create a Slovak alphabet.

  10. #10
    Photo of Emma Orczy

    Emma Orczy

    1865 - 1947

    HPI 68.5035 langs

    Hungarian-born British novelist and playwright

People by Birth Decade

Browse notable Hungarians Writers grouped by birth decade. Each decade shows the top 10 by HPI; expand to see everyone.

Overlapping Lives

Which Writers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 25 most globally memorable Writers since 1700.

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