Jenő Rejtő

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Jenő Rejtő (born Jenő Reich, pseudonyms: P. Howard, Gibson Lavery) was a Hungarian author, science fiction writer, playwright and journalist, who died as a political prisoner during the World War II. He was born in Budapest, Hungary, on March 29, 1905, and died in Yevdokovo, Soviet Union (then under Axis occupation) on January 1, 1943.

Jeno Rejto

Jenő Rejtő completed his studies at a drama school in 1934, and then travelled throughout Europe. Returning home, he made his living as a playwright, often with great success, such as his operetta Who Dares Wins (1934).

Later he started writing adventure novels based on his foreign journeys, which were raised above the mediocre by his inimitable, bizarre sense of humour. His novels parodying the French Foreign Legion, written under the pseudonym P. Howard, reaped the greatest success - some of them being considered science fiction. He also wrote a large number of cabaret farces, and was the editor of the newspaper Nagykörut.

When seriously ill in 1942, Hungarian fascists informed on him as being "a subversive", he was taken from hospital and made to serve in a punitive company of "refractory" soldiers. He died in a labour camp. Source: [1]

His memory is still preserved at the Budapest cafe where he was a regular customer. In 2005 his picture appeared on the Hungarian postage stamp in the series "Great Hungarians".