Péter Esterházy

Péter Esterházy, a descendant of a prominent Hungarian aristocratic family, was born in Budapest on April 14, 1950. He studied mathematics and published his first novel, "A szív segédigéi" ("Helping Verbs of the Heart"), at the age of 26. He authored novels, plays, and essays and is considered one of the most widely read Hungarian authors abroad. His most famous book is the novel "Harmonia Caelestis" ("Celestial Harmonies," 2000), a chronicle of his family from the Austro-Hungarian era, when Haydn composed his melodies, to the communist era. He was honored with numerous awards, including the Herder Prize in 2002, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 2004, and the Angelus Central European Literature Award in Poland in 2007. He passed away on July 14, 2016, a few weeks after the release of his book in which he documented his battle with pancreatic cancer.