Editing Imre Kertész (section)

== Life and work ==
Kertész was born in Budapest, Hungary, on 9 November 1929, the son of Aranka Jakab and László Kertész,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hermann|first1=Péter|last2=Pásztor|first2=Antal|title=Magyar és nemzetközi ki kicsoda, 1994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B6JmAAAAMAAJ&q=Aranka+Jakab+Laszlo+Kert%C3%A9sz|access-date=31 March 2016|language=hu|isbn=978-963-7943-27-0|year=1994|publisher=Biográf }}</ref> a middle-class [[Judaism|Jewish]] couple. After his parents separated when he was around the age of five, Kertész attended a boarding school, and, in 1940, he started secondary school where he was put into a special class for Jewish students.<ref name=tagesschau>{{cite web|title=Literaturnobelpreisträger Kertész gestorben: Der Retter seiner Seele|url=https://www.tagesschau.de/kultur/kertesz-gestorben-103.html|publisher=Tagesschau|access-date=31 March 2016|language=de|date=31 March 2016}}</ref> During [[World War II]], Kertész was deported in 1944 at the age of 14 with other [[List of Hungarian Jews|Hungarian Jews]] to the [[Auschwitz concentration camp]], and was later sent to [[Buchenwald]].<ref name="Britannica" /> Upon his arrival at Auschwitz, Kertész claimed to be a 16-year-old worker, thus saving him from the instant extermination that awaited a 14-year-old person.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news|last1=Kandell|first1=Jonathan|title=Imre Kertesz, Nobel Laureate Who Survived Holocaust, Dies at 86|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/01/world/europe/imre-kertesz-dies.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=31 March 2016|date=31 March 2016}}</ref> After his camp was liberated in 1945, Kertész returned to Budapest,<ref name="Guardian" /> graduated from high school in 1948,<ref name="mandinerdeath">{{cite web|title=Elhunyt Kertész Imre|trans-title=Imre Kertész has died|url=http://mandiner.hu/cikk/20160331_elhunyt_kertesz_imre|website=Mandiner|language=hu|access-date=31 March 2016|date=31 March 2016}}</ref> and then went on to find work as a journalist and translator. In 1951, he lost his job at the journal ''Világosság'' (Clarity), after the publication started leaning towards Communism.<ref name="Guardian" /> For a short term, he worked as a factory worker, and then in the press department of the Ministry of Heavy Industry.<ref name="Guardian obituary">{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/31/imre-kertesz-obituary | title=Imre Kertész obituary | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=31 March 2016 | access-date=1 April 2016 | author=George Gomori}}</ref> From 1953, he started freelance journalism and translated various works into Hungarian, including [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], [[Sigmund Freud]], [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]], and [[Elias Canetti]].<ref name="Seattletimes" />

His best-known work, ''[[Fatelessness]]'' (''Sorstalanság''), describes the experience of 15-year-old György (George) Köves in the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and [[Zeitz]]. Written between 1969 and 1973, the novel was initially rejected for publication by the Communist regime in Hungary, but was published in 1975.<ref name="Seattletimes" /> Some have interpreted the book as quasi-autobiographical, but the author disavows a strong biographical connection. The book would go on to become part of many high school curriculums in Hungary.<ref name="Seattletimes" /> In 2005, a [[Fateless (film)|film based on the novel]], for which he wrote the script, was made in Hungary.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|first=Alan|last=Riding|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/03/movies/MoviesFeatures/03fate.html|title=The Holocaust, From a Teenage View|work=The New York Times|date=3 January 2006|access-date=8 February 2008}}</ref> Although sharing the same title, some reviews noted that the film was more autobiographical than the novel on which it was based. It was released internationally at various dates in 2005 and 2006.

Following on from ''Fatelessness'', Kertész's ''Fiasco'' (1988) and ''[[Kaddish for an Unborn Child]]'' (1990) are, respectively, the second and third parts of his Holocaust trilogy.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/31/imre-kertesz-holocaust-survivor-nobel-laureate-novelist-dies | title=Imre Kertész, Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate, dies at 86 | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=31 March 2016 | access-date=31 March 2016}}</ref> His writings translated into English include ''Kaddish for an Unborn Child'' (''Kaddis a meg nem született gyermekért'') and ''Liquidation'' (''Felszámolás''), the latter set during the period of Hungary's evolution into a democracy from communist rule.<ref name="Seattletimes" />

From the beginning, Kertész found little appreciation for his writing in Hungary,<ref name="Britannica" /> and he moved to Germany, where he received more active support from publishers and reviewers, along with more appreciative readers. After his move, he continued translating German works into Hungarian,<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9395919/Imre-Kertesz|title=Imre Kertész|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=9 February 2008}}</ref> notably ''[[The Birth of Tragedy]]'', the plays of [[Dürrenmatt]], [[Schnitzler]], and [[Tankred Dorst]], and various thoughts and aphorisms of [[Wittgenstein]]. Kertész also continued working at his craft, writing his fiction in Hungarian, but did not publish another novel until the late 1980s.<ref name="NYT" /> From that point on, he submitted his work to publishers in Hungary. Grateful that he had found his most significant success as a writer and artist in Germany, Kertész left his [[Abatement of debts and legacies|abatement]] to the [[Academy of Arts, Berlin|Academy of Arts]] in [[Berlin]].<ref name=tagesschau/>

In November 2013, Kertész underwent successful surgery on his right hip, after falling down in his home.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.politics.hu/20131122/kertesz-undergoes-surgery/ | title=Kertész undergoes surgery | work=Politics.hu | date=22 November 2013 | access-date=1 April 2016}}</ref> However, he continued to deal with various health concerns during the last few years of his life. He was diagnosed with [[Parkinson's disease]], and was again suffering from [[Depression (mood)|depression]], reported to have been a recurring battle in his life. In fact, Kertész had struggled with this same issue in his writing, as the main character of his 2003 book ''Felszámolás'' (''Liquidation'') commits suicide after struggling with depression.<ref name="Guardian obituary" />

Kertész died on 31 March 2016, at the age of 86, at his home in Budapest, after suffering from Parkinson's for several years.<ref>{{cite web|title=Imre Kertész gestorben|url=https://www.tagesschau.de/kultur/kertesz-gestorben-101.html|publisher=Tagesschau|access-date=31 March 2016|language=de|date=31 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="Guardian obituary" />