Julio Baghy (13 January 1891,Szeged – 18 March 1967,Budapest; in HungarianBaghy Gyula) was aHungarianactor and one of the leading authors of theEsperanto movement. He is the author of several famousnovels but it is particularly in the field ofpoetry that he proved his mastery of Esperanto.
Baghy was born into a theatrical family — his father was an actor, and his mother a stageprompter. He began learning Esperanto in 1911. He started work as an actor and theatre manager, but theFirst World War intervened and took him out of his home country for six years.
He was captured and made aprisoner of war inSiberia. It was during this time that he began to work for the Esperanto movement, writing poetry and teaching the language to his fellow inmates.
Baghy wrote two books on the subject of captivity in Siberia:Viktimoj (Victims, 1925), andSur Sanga Tero (On Bloody Soil, 1933), republished together as a single volume in 1971. His satirical novelHura! (Hooray!, 1930) was somewhat less of a success. Its sequelInsulo de Espero (Island of Hope) was lost during the war.
His most famous novelPrintempo en Aŭtuno (Spring in Autumn) was written in 1931.
It is however for his poetry that Baghy is best known. His first poems were written during his time of captivity in Siberia. Hitherto those poets, such asZamenhof, who had written in Esperanto were limited by the still young language, and apart fromAntoni Grabowski, no poet had managed to make a mark on the language.
Baghy's most significant collections of poems was his first:Preter la Vivo (Beyond Life, published in 1922). Among his more notable collection of poems arePilgrimo (Pilgrim, 1926) andVagabondo Kantas (The Vagabond Sings, 1933).
In 1966 he producedĈielarko (Rainbow), retelling in versefolk tales from twelve different nations. His last collection of poems,Aŭtunaj folioj (Autumn leaves), was published posthumously in 1970.
Returning to Hungary after the war, he became one of the principal teachers of the Esperanto movement, organising newsgroups and literary evenings. In addition to working in his native Hungary, he organised courses in countries such as Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands and France.
He was one of the principal writers for the Esperanto literary reviewLiteratura Mondo until 1933.
His works reflect a slogan of his:Amo kreas pacon, Paco konservas homecon, Homeco estas plej alta idealismo. (Love creates peace, Peace preserves humanity, Humanity is the highest ideal.)
Several of his works were granted awards by theAcademy of Esperanto and a number of his novels have been translated into several languages.
