In 2025, he was awarded theNobel Prize in Literature "for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art".[2][3]
László Krasznahorkai was born into a middle-class family on 5 January 1954 inGyula, eastern Hungary.[4][5] His father, György Krasznahorkai, was a lawyer, and his mother, Júlia Pálinkás, was a social security administrator.[6][5]
Krasznahorkai has stated in interviews he had Jewish heritage on his father's side,[7][8] explaining that his father initially concealed their Jewish roots from him, revealing it only when he was around 11 years old.[8] He has also said his maternal ancestors include Hungarianhajduks fromTransylvania.[7][9] His paternal grandfather changed the family name from Korim (or Korin) to Krasznahorkai in 1931.[7][8] His older brother Géza is a former director of the Mogyoróssy János Municipal Library in Gyula.[10]
From 1968 to 1972, he attendedErkel Ferenc High School [hu] in Gyula, specializing in Latin.[11][12] During his teenage years, he performed as a pianist in variousjazz andbeat ensembles.[13] After completing one year of compulsory military service,[8] he began studying law in 1973 at József Attila University (now theUniversity of Szeged),[11][14] but he suspended his studies after three weeks as he did not feel a sense of belonging to the legal profession.[13] Afterwards, he spent a period changing location every few months in an effort to avoid a second year of military duty. During this time, he took on various jobs as a stable boy, a cultural educator and a miner.[8][13] In 1976, he transferred to theFaculty of Law ofEötvös Loránd University in Budapest, where he continued his legal studies until 1978.[11]
His first published work, a short story titled "Tebenned hittem" ("I Believed in You"), appeared inMozgó Világ [hu] in 1977.[15] From 1978, he studied Hungarian and cultural education at theFaculty of Humanities of Eötvös Loránd University, graduating in 1983.[11][15] Histhesis focused on the work of writerSándor Márai following his emigration from Hungary.[11][16] During his studies, he worked at theGondolat [hu] publishing house as a documenter from 1977 to 1982.[4][11]
Since completing his studies, Krasznahorkai has worked as a freelance writer. His debut novel,Sátántangó (1985), was an immediate success that established him as a leading figure in Hungarian literature.[17] An English translation of the novel later received theBest Translated Book Award in 2013.[17]
Krasznahorkai first travelled outsideCommunist Hungary in 1987–1988,[17] when he spent one year inWest Berlin as a fellow of theDAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program.[15][18] After thefall of the Eastern Bloc, he began living reclusively in various locations worldwide. His first extended trip toEast Asia in 1990 profoundly influenced his work; his experiences inMongolia andChina informed the booksThe Prisoner of Urga andDestruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens.[19] He later spent six months inKyoto in 1996, 2000, and 2005, with the aesthetics and literary theory of the Far East causing significant shifts in his style and themes.[20] While writingWar and War, he traveled extensively across Europe and received assistance from the American poetAllen Ginsberg, whom he credited with providing valuable advice while staying at his New York apartment.[21]
Beginning withSátántangó (1994), filmmakerBéla Tarr, a close friend, adapted several of Krasznahorkai's works into films, includingWerckmeister Harmonies (2000) which adaptsThe Melancholy of Resistance.[19] Krasznahorkai stated that their 2011 film,The Turin Horse, would be their final collaboration.[23] He has also collaborated with artist Max Neumann on illustrated works such as the novellaChasing Homer (2021), which was released with an original score by jazz musician Szilveszter Miklós.[24]
Krasznahorkai's work has received significant critical acclaim.Susan Sontag described him as "the contemporary Hungarian master of apocalypse who inspires comparison withGogol andMelville",[17] whileW. G. Sebald wrote that "the universality of Krasznahorkai's vision rivals that of Gogol'sDead Souls and far surpasses all the lesser concerns of contemporary writing".[26]
In 2024, the Austrian National Library inVienna acquired Krasznahorkai’s literary archive (Vorlass), which is now preserved in its Literature Archives.[27]
Krasznahorkai expressed strong condemnation of the Hungarian government's policy on theRussian invasion of Ukraine. He described Prime MinisterViktor Orbán's framing of the conflict as an "internal Slavic affair" as morally indefensible and historically incoherent, given Hungary's own past invasions by Russia. Krasznahorkai argued that neutrality in the face of aggression amounts to complicity and likened the Orbán government's reasoning to a form of psychological denial. He characterized the regime as "a psychiatric case," motivated by a fatalistic and self-destructive logic that, in his words, accepts the death of one's own child to spare one's mother, only to result in the death of both.[28]
Krasznahorkai was married to his first wife, Anikó Pelyhe, from 1990 until their divorce. In 1997, he married Dóra Kopcsányi, asinologist and graphic designer.[6] He has three daughters,[6] including Ágnes, an actress who starred in the 2023 filmWithout Air [hu].[29]
Északról hegy, Délről tó, Nyugatról utak, Keletről folyó (in Hungarian). Budapest:Magvető. 2003.ISBN9789631423181.
A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East. Translated byOttilie Mulzet. New York: New Directions. 2022.ISBN9780811234474.
2009:The Last Wolf (Az utolsó farkas), translated byGeorge Szirtes (New Directions, 2016; paired withJohn Batki's translation of "Herman" and "The Death of a Craft" fromRelations of Grace).
2010:Animalinside (Állatvanbent), together with Max Neumann, collage of prose and pictures, translated byOttilie Mulzet (New Directions, 2011; Sylph Editions, 2012).
2018:Spadework for a Palace (Aprómunka egy palotaért), translated by John Batki (New Directions, 2022).
2019:Chasing Homer (Mindig Homérosznak), with illustrations by Max Neumann, translated by John Batki (New Directions, 2021).
Kegyelmi viszonyok: Halálnovellák [Relations of Grace] (in Hungarian). Budapest:Magvető. 1986.ISBN9789631405811.
Includes: "The Last Boat", "The Bogdanovich Story", "Trapped Rye", "Heat", "Herman: The Game Warden", "The Death of a Craft", "In the Barber's Grasp" and "The Station Seeker".
1984: "The Bogdanovich Story" ("El Bogdanovichtól"). Trans. Eszter Molnár, inThy Kingdom Come: 19 Short Stories by 11 Hungarian Authors (pp. 64–79).
1986: "The Last Boat" ("Az utolsó hajó"). Trans. Eszter Molnár, inThy Kingdom Come: 19 Short Stories by 11 Hungarian Authors (pp. 53–63); later by George Szirtes inMusic & Literature No. 2 (2013)
1998: "Isaiah Has Come" ("Megjött Ézsaiás"). Translated byGeorge Szirtes, included inWar and War.
1999: "Dumb to the Deaf" ("Néma a süketnek"). Trans. Eszter Molnár, inThe Hungarian Quarterly, Summer 2000 (pp. 49–55).
2012:He Neither Answers Nor Questions: Twenty-five Conversations on the Same Subject (Nem kérdez, nem válaszol. Huszonöt beszélgetés ugyanarról.),interviews.
2013:Music & Literature No. 2, book length special issue of the magazine with texts by Krasznahorkai and essays on his work by Béla Tarr and Max Neumann.[31]
2017:The Manhattan Project, aliterary diary with a photographic essay, translated byJohn Batki (Sylph Editions, 2017).
Péter Eötvös, Valuska, libretto by Mari Mezei and Kinga Keszthelyi, Budapest, Eiffel Műhelyház 2023.
Marc-André Dalbavie, Mélancolie de la résistance, libretto by Guillaume Métayer with the help of the director David Marton,Staatsoper Berlin, June-July 2024.
2010:Spycher: Literaturpreis Leuk [de] for his complete work but in particular forA Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East[37]
^abRohter, Larry (9 August 2014)."László Krasznahorkai's Novels Find a U.S. Audience".The New York Times. Retrieved10 March 2019.He was born into a middle-class Jewish family (his father was a lawyer, his mother an employee of the social welfare ministry), in Gyula, a town on the border with Romanian Transylvania.
^abc"Interjú Krasznahorkai László íróval".Friderikusz Podcast (Podcast) (in Hungarian). No. 85. Interviewed by Friderikusz, Sándor. 14 December 2023. Event occurs at 41:54. Retrieved19 October 2025 – viaYouTube.
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