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In a 2018 interview with a Greek outlet, he revealed that his father’s family had changed their surname from Korin to Krasznahorkai in 1931
By Shula Rosen
Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai, who has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in literature, revealed that his father was Jewish but hid the secret for fear of persecution in Hungary during the Soviet era.
The Swedish Academy described Krasznahorkai’s work as a “compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”
The 71-year-old author, regarded as one of Hungary’s most influential contemporary writers, is best known for his dense, lyrical prose and dark explorations of postmodern despair.
Beyond his literary achievements, Krasznahorkai has spoken publicly about his family’s concealed Jewish heritage.
In a 2018 interview with a Greek outlet, he revealed that his father’s family had changed their surname from Korin to Krasznahorkai in 1931, adopting the name of a castle on what was then Hungarian territory.
“My father had Jewish roots, but he only told us this secret when I was about 11,” the author recalled.
“In the socialist era, it was forbidden to mention it. Well, I am half Jewish, but if things carry on in Hungary as they seem likely to do, I’ll soon be entirely Jewish.”
The Academy hailed him as “a great epic writer in the Central European tradition that extends through Kafka to Thomas Bernhard,” noting that his work combines absurdism, grotesque imagery, and a distinctly contemplative tone influenced by Eastern philosophy.
Krasznahorkai’s novels, including Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, have earned international acclaim for their long, unbroken sentences and themes of societal decay, chaos, and moral endurance.
His fiction often depicts isolated characters navigating the ruins of civilization, blending philosophical depth with an almost prophetic sense of unease.
The Swedish Academy praised Krasznahorkai’s ability to confront existential dread while affirming art’s enduring purpose, calling his body of work a vital contribution to modern European literature.
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