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 bracelets
Bella Nagy, photographed in 1899
Born
Bella 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.[1][2] 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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[1][5] She left the stage reluctantly, and attempted a comeback in 1901,[6] but continued in the public eye as Jókai's wife.[7]

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.[8][9][10]

In 1912, Nagy donated Jókai's books and papers to the Hungarian National Museum in exchange for a life pension.[11][12]

Personal life

Nagy married writer Mór Jókai in 1899,[13] as his second wife; they honeymooned in Sicily. His first wife, Róza Laborfalvi, was also an actress.[14] Nagy was widowed when Jókai died in 1904;[15][16] she never remarried.[1]

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.[12] She died in 1947, in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, aged 67.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 "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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