The Hungarian publisher, translator, dramaturge and actor Geza Morcsanyi has died at the age of 70. This was reported by the state news agency MTI yesterday evening, citing a Facebook post by the Budapest-based Magvetö publishing house, which Morcsanyi had been director for 20 years. Under his leadership, Magvetö published 800 books from 1995 to 2015, including works by writers such as Imre Kertesz and Peter Esterhazy.
After leaving Magvetö, Morcsanyi’s career took a surprising turn. In the feature film “Body and Soul” by Ildiko Enyedi, Morcsanyi, who had never been on stage or in front of the camera before, took on the male lead. The emotionally rich, but at the same time completely unsentimental study about two shy people plagued by disabilities won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2017.
Before becoming the head of the publishing house, the economics graduate had worked as a theater dramaturge and editor. He also made a name for himself as a translator of Russian theater literature.
