Miklós Bánffy’s Followers (69)

Miklós Bánffy

Born

in Kolozsvár, Transylvania, Austro-Hungarian Empire

December 30, 1873

Died

June 06, 1950

Genre

Historical Fiction

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Count Miklós Bánffy de Losoncz was a Hungarian nobleman, politician, and novelist. His books include The Transylvanian Trilogy (They Were Counted, They Were Found Wanting, They Were Divided), and The Phoenix Land.

The Bánffy family emerged in 15th century Transylvania and established itself among the foremost dynasties of the country. They owned a grand palace in Kolozsvár (Romanian: Cluj-Napoca, German: Klausenburg), one of the main cities of Transylvania and one of the province's largest castles at Bonchida. One branch was raised to a barony in the 1660s, while another became counts in 1855. The barons produced a 19th-century prime minister of Hungary (Dezső Bánffy), and the counts held important offices at court. Among the latter was Coun Count Miklós Bánffy de Losoncz was a Hungarian nobleman, politician, and novelist. His books include The Transylvanian Trilogy (They Were Counted, They Were Found Wanting, They Were Divided), and The Phoenix Land.

The Bánffy family emerged in 15th century Transylvania and established itself among the foremost dynasties of the country. They owned a grand palace in Kolozsvár (Romanian: Cluj-Napoca, German: Klausenburg), one of the main cities of Transylvania and one of the province's largest castles at Bonchida. One branch was raised to a barony in the 1660s, while another became counts in 1855. The barons produced a 19th-century prime minister of Hungary (Dezső Bánffy), and the counts held important offices at court. Among the latter was Count Miklós, born in Kolozsvár on December 30, 1873.

Beginning his political career at the time when Hungary was a constituent of Austria-Hungary, Bánffy was elected a Member of Parliament in 1901 and became Director of the Hungarian State Theatres (1913–1918). Both a traditionalist and a member of the avant-garde, he wrote five plays, two books of short stories, and a distinguished novel. Overcoming fierce opposition, his intervention made it possible for Béla Bartók's works to have their first performance in Budapest.

Bánffy became Foreign Minister of Hungary in his cousin Count István Bethlen's government of 1921. Although he detested the politics of the Regent, Admiral Miklós Horthy, he worked to review the boundary revisions confirmed by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I through which Transylvania had been transferred to Romania. Little progress was made, and he retired from office.

His trilogy, A Transylvanian Tale, also called The Writing on the Wall, was published between 1934 and 1940. Bánffy portrayed pre-war Hungary as a nation in decline, failed by a shortsighted aristocracy.

In April 1943, Bánffy visited Bucharest to persuade Ion Antonescu's Romania together with Hungary to abandon the Axis and sue for a separate peace with the Allies (see also Romania during World War II). The negotiations with a delegation led by Gheorghe Mironescu broke down almost instantaneously, as the two sides could not agree on a future status for Northern Transylvania (which Romania had ceded to Hungary in 1940, and where Bonchida was located). Two years later, in revenge for Bánffy's actions in Bucharest, his estate at Bonchida was burned and looted by the retreating German army.

Hungary and Transylvania were soon invaded by the Soviet Union's Red Army, an event which marked an uncertain status for Northern Transylvania until its return to Romania. His wife and daughter fled to Budapest while Bánffy remained on the spot in a vain attempt to prevent the destruction of his property. Soon after, the frontier was closed. The family remained separated until 1949, when he was allowed by Romanian communist authorities to leave for Budapest, where he died the following year.

A mellowing communist regime in Hungary permitted the reissue of A Transylvanian Tale in 1982, and it was translated into English for the first time in 1999. The Castle of Bonchida is now being restored as a cultural center. An apartment is being prepared for the use of the Count's family. ...more

Combine Editions
Miklós Bánffy’s books

Average rating: 4.27 · 3,283 ratings · 448 reviews · 30 distinct works • Similar authors

	They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy, Patrick Thursfield (Translator), Kathy Bánffy-Jelen (Translator) 4.20 avg rating — 1,564 ratings — published 1934 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	They Were Found Wanting by Miklós Bánffy, Patrick Thursfield (Translator), Kathy Bánffy-Jelen (Translator) 4.32 avg rating — 687 ratings — published 1937 — 30 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	They Were Divided by Miklós Bánffy, Kathy Bánffy-Jelen (Translator), Patrick Thursfield (Translator) 4.39 avg rating — 624 ratings — published 1940 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	They Were Found Wanting / They Were Divided (The Transylvanian Trilogy, #2-3) by Miklós Bánffy, Patrick Thursfield (Translator), Kathy Bánffy-Jelen (Translator) 4.59 avg rating — 123 ratings — published 1940 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Enchanted Night: Selected Tales by Miklós Bánffy, Len Rix (Translator) 3.88 avg rating — 96 ratings — published 2013 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Trilogía transilvana 4.68 avg rating — 68 ratings — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Phoenix Land: The Memoirs of Count Miklos Banffy 4.07 avg rating — 57 ratings — published 2003 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Remarkable Mrs. Anderson by Miklós Bánffy, Thomas Sneddon (Translation), Thomas Barcsay (Afterword) 3.50 avg rating — 32 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Egy erdélyi gróf emlékiratai 4.27 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Milolu 3.38 avg rating — 8 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Miklós Bánffy…

Series by Miklós Bánffy

The Writing on the Wall: The Transylvania Trilogy (4 books)
by

Miklós Bánffy

4.29 avg rating — 3,065 ratings

Quotes by Miklós Bánffy (?)

“With human beings the urge to make peace takes some time to germinate, while Homo Sapiens is always ready to hate.”
― Miklós Bánffy, The Phoenix Land: The Memoirs of Count Miklos Banffy

tags: human-nature, politics

1 likes

“Sin duda, era un diletante, pero muy refinado, por lo que, desde el punto de vista social, era una persona más agradable que un artista.”
― Miklós Bánffy, Los días contados

1 likes

“Llevar anteojos era considerado pretencioso, era señal de ahorro, de trabajo serio, de una concepción moderna del mundo.”
― Miklós Bánffy, Los días contados

1 likes

See all Miklós Bánffy's quotes »

Polls

2nd Qtr 2020 Long Read Poll: April-June

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough, 1977, 692 pages

74 votes, 22.8%

No Name by Wilkie Collins, 1862, 748 pages

64 votes, 19.7%

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, 1008, 1182 pages

59 votes, 18.2%

Underworld by Don DeLillo, 1997, 827 pages

44 votes, 13.5%

Shōgun by James Clavell, 1975, 1152 pages

37 votes, 11.4%

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, 1995, 603 pages

27 votes, 8.3%

They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy, 1934, 624 pages

20 votes, 6.2%

325 total votes

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Miklós Bánffy’s Followers (69)

Miklós Bánffy

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