Nagy, Imre, 1896-1958, Hungarian Communist leader. Nagy was a symbol of the 1956 Hungarian revolt against the Soviet Union. As an agricultural expert he held several government posts in postwar Hungary before serving (1953-55) as premier. His "new course" de-emphasized heavy industry, stopped forcible collectivization, and loosened police controls; he was increasingly critical of Soviet influence in Hungary. Denounced for Titoism, he was removed from office. His expulsion from the Hungarian Communist party in early 1956 was rescinded at the request of rioting students shortly before the Hungarian revolution began (see Hungary). Nagy was recalled as premier of the new government on Oct. 24, 1956. He took refuge in the Yugoslav embassy when the Soviets counterattacked (Nov. 4) and crushed the revolt. Leaving the embassy under a safe-conduct pledge, he was seized by Soviet police and was later returned to the custody of the new Hungarian regime headed by János Kádár. His trial and execution were announced in 1958. In 1989, he was officially rehabilitated and reburied with full honors.

Tokoly, Imre: see Thököly, Imre.

Thököly, Imre, 1656-1705, Hungarian rebel, of a noble family of N Hungary. His father, Stephen Thököly, took an important part in the unsuccessful conspiracy of Francis I Rákóczy and Peter Zrinyi against Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and died (1670) while defending his castle against imperial troops. Thököly fled to Poland. The severe reprisals meted out by the Austrian governor of Hungary led to a general uprising, supported after 1674 by Louis XIV of France. Thököly took command (1678) of the rebel army and in 1680 made a truce with Leopold. The emperor restored (1681) religious and political freedom in Hungary, but Thököly rejected his concessions as insufficient and began to plot with the Ottoman Empire to make himself master of his country. In 1682 he married Helen Zrinyi, daughter of Peter Zrinyi and widow of Francis I Rákóczy, and late in the same year he was recognized by Sultan Muhammad IV as "king of Upper Hungary" under Ottoman suzerainty. It was largely at his instigation that the sultan undertook his expedition against Vienna, and in 1683 Thököly joined the Ottoman forces under Kara Mustafa in the siege of that city. The Ottomans blamed their rout on Thököly and imprisoned him briefly (1686) at Adrianople, but in 1690 they appointed him prince of Transylvania. He was driven out (1691) of Transylvania by the imperial force under Louis of Baden. The Treaty of Karlowitz (1699), by which the whole of Hungary passed to Leopold, also stipulated that Thököly was to be interned by the Ottomans in Asia Minor. He spent the remainder of his life near Constantinople. The name is also spelled Tokoly.

Kertész, Imre, 1929-, Hungarian novelist, b. Budapest. Of Jewish descent, Kertész spent two years in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, an experience that has shaped his fiction. Later, he returned to Hungary and lived for some four decades under the strictures of Communist rule. He now lives in both Budapest and Berlin. In his fiction Kertész has concentrated on the Holocaust, painting the Nazi camps as the height of modern degradation, but rejecting clichéd explanations, treating the Holocaust experience as a part of everyday life that sometimes even admits happiness, and meditating on the nature of survival and conformity. His first novel, Sorstalanság (1975; tr. Fateless 1992, Fatelessness 2004), together with A kudarc [fiasco] (1988), Kaddis a meg nem születetett gyermekért (1990; tr. Kaddish for a Child Not Born, 1997), and Felszámolás (2003; tr. Liquidation, 2004) form the semiautobiographical cornerstone of his fiction. Kertész's other works include three additional novels (1977, 1991, 2008), fictional diaries (1992, 1997), and lecture-essay collections (1993, 1998, 2001). In 2002 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

(born June 7, 1896, Kaposvár, Hung., Austria-Hungary—died June 16, 1958, Budapest, Hung.) Hungarian politician. He fought in World War I, was captured by the Russians, and joined the Red Army. He lived in Moscow (1929–44), then returned to Hungary under the Soviet occupation and held several ministerial posts. An advocate for peasants' rights, he became premier (1953–55) but was ousted for his independent ideas. During the Hungarian Revolution (1956), he again served as premier and sought to establish Hungary's independence from Soviet domination. He made an unsuccessful appeal to the West for help against the invading Soviet troops, and he was arrested, tried, and executed.

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(born June 7, 1896, Kaposvár, Hung., Austria-Hungary—died June 16, 1958, Budapest, Hung.) Hungarian politician. He fought in World War I, was captured by the Russians, and joined the Red Army. He lived in Moscow (1929–44), then returned to Hungary under the Soviet occupation and held several ministerial posts. An advocate for peasants' rights, he became premier (1953–55) but was ousted for his independent ideas. During the Hungarian Revolution (1956), he again served as premier and sought to establish Hungary's independence from Soviet domination. He made an unsuccessful appeal to the West for help against the invading Soviet troops, and he was arrested, tried, and executed.

Learn more about Nagy, Imre with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Imre: A Memorandum, is a novel about the homosexual relationship between two men. It was written in Europe by the expatriate American-born author, Edward Irenaeus Prime-Stevenson, who originally published it under the pseudonym of Xavier Mayne in a limited-edition imprint of 500 copies in 1906.

Plot introduction

It was described by the author as "a little psychological romance". The narrative follows the lives of two men, who by chance meet at a cafe in Budapest, Hungary. Over the course of several months they forge a friendship that leads to various revelations and disclosures, each of which are carried out with the greatest of subtlety.

Literary significance and criticism

Although Imre: A Memorandum is not the first American gay novel (John Brent by Theodore Winthrop [1861] and Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania by Bayard Taylor [1870] precede it), it is considered to be of some importance, as it is the first such with a happy ending.

The novel was republished on 18 February, 2003, by Broadview Literary Texts (ISBN 1551113589), in a new edition, which includes a discussion of the life of Edward Prime-Stevenson, about whom little is known, as well as an extensive annotation on the text of the novel by the publishing editor, James J. Gifford.