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Bella Nagy

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Hungarian actress The native form of this personal name is Nagy Bella. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Bella Nagy
A young white woman with dark curls, smiling, hands together under her chin; she is wearing light-colored lacy clothes including a headpiece, and several braceletsBella Nagy, photographed in 1899
BornBella Grósz
4 July 1879
Jákó, Hungary
Died30 January 1947(1947-01-30) (aged 67)
Amersham, Buckinghamshire, UK
Other namesJókainé Nagy Bella
OccupationActress
SpouseMór Jókai (m. 1899-1904)

Bella Nagy (née Grósz; 4 July 1879 – 30 January 1947) was a Hungarian actress, and the second wife of writer Mór Jókai.

Early life

Bella Grósz was born in Jákó, Hungary, the daughter of Jewish parents, Móric Grósz and Éva Flamm. Her father was a mechanic. She graduated from a commercial school in Óbuda before pursuing an interest in the theatre, attending the Rákosi Szidi acting school.

Career

Nagy had her stage debut in 1898, and performed in several works by Mór Jókai before she married the writer in 1899 in Budapest. Their age difference (he was 74 and she was 20), plus their religious differences, caused a scandal, and his family tried to have him declared incompetent. She left the stage reluctantly, and attempted a comeback in 1901, but continued in the public eye as Jókai's wife.

After his death, she was his sole heir, outraging other claimants and causing further scandal and prolonged legal battles; she lost those battles, and was left without support from Jókai's estate.

In 1912, Nagy donated Jókai's books and papers to the Hungarian National Museum in exchange for a life pension.

Personal life

Nagy married writer Mór Jókai in 1899, as his second wife; they honeymooned in Sicily. His first wife, Róza Laborfalvi, was also an actress. Nagy was widowed when Jókai died in 1904; she never remarried.

She moved to England in the 1939, to flee the Nazis and to arrange for an English-language edition of her husband's works. She lost her life pension in 1942, when Germany pressured Hungary to cease payments. She died in 1947, in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, aged 67.

References

  1. ^ Koerner, András (1 November 2016). How They Lived 2: The Everyday Lives of Hungarian Jews, 1867-1940: Family, Religious, and Social Life, Learning, Military Life, Vacationing, Sports, Charity. Central European University Press. pp. 64, 67. ISBN 978-963-386-176-9.
  2. "Jokai's Romance". The American Israelite. 16 November 1899. p. 6. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Láng, József (1975). "OSZK" (PDF). Elektronikus Periodika Adatbázis Archívum. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  4. Jókai, Mór (3 December 2019). Tales From Jókai. Good Press.
  5. Jókai, Mór; Nemo, August (9 May 2020). Essential Novelists - Mór Jókai: reality and personal experience. Tacet Books. ISBN 978-3-96858-621-2.
  6. "Aged Maurice Jokai's Young Wife to Resume Career as a Star". Boston Post. 8 November 1901. p. 2. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Brown, Curtis (19 April 1903). "Strange Sequels of an Octogenarian's Love Story". The Courier-Journal. p. 39. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Legarde, Marie (11 September 1904). "Wife and Daughter Fight for the Fortune of Jokai". The Saint Paul Globe. p. 37. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Bitter Contest is Being Waged Over Estate Left by Great Hungarian Novelist". The San Francisco Call. 9 October 1904. p. 17. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Jokai's Widow in Need". The Spokesman-Review. 16 April 1911. p. 39. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Jokai's Widow Wants Pension". The West Schuylkill Press and Pine Grove Herald. 13 May 1911. p. 3. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Warring on Women". The Kingston Daily Freeman. 2 December 1942. p. 4. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Frau Maurus Jokai". Über Land und Meer (in German). 83: 34. October 1899.
  14. "Romance of Maurus Jokai; He wrote 16 Books and had a Story of His Own". The Saint Paul Globe. 22 May 1904. p. 25. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "The late Maurus Jokai, the Great Hungarian Patriot and Novelist, with his Wife". The Bystander. 2: 673. 18 May 1904.
  16. "Great Hungarian Poet Passes Away". Quad-City Times. 6 May 1904. p. 12. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office. © Crown copyright via Ancestry.com. Accessed 11 June 2023.
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